


you make me bloom

by ChocolateKookie



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Dark Magic, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Jeon Jungkook & Kim Taehyung | V are Best Friends, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope & Kim Seokjin | Jin are Siblings, M/M, Mentions of underage drinking, Min Yoongi | Suga & Park Chaeyoung | Rosé are Siblings, Multi, Pining, Power Rangers - Freeform, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Taehyung's only hobbies are playing video games and annoying Jungkook, Violence, fighting evil, he's too busy being in love with his best friend, jennie and jisoo are meant to be evil but they're incompetent, jungkook doesn't want to save the world, sungjin is actually evil but also incompetent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 69,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25187593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocolateKookie/pseuds/ChocolateKookie
Summary: If someone had told Jungkook on his 17th birthday that he was going to become a Power Ranger, he would have laughed in their face. He can hardly keep up with schoolwork, let alone saving the world. But when monsters start turning up in the city, there isn’t much of a choice – 5 unsuspecting teenagers are the only people with the power to keep the situation under control.Maybe it would all be a bit more manageable if he didn’t have to keep his new superhero lifestyle a secret from his best friend Taehyung. (Who he’s coincidentally also in love with… Yeah, so, that’s complicated.)
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Kim Jisoo/Lalisa Manoban | Lisa, Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin
Comments: 57
Kudos: 43





	1. stormcloud

**Author's Note:**

> ok, so the premise of this is kinda ridiculous and I guess it’s kinda crack? but I’m gonna do my best to make it believable haha. if you don’t know anything about power rangers that’s absolutely fine, everything will be explained as we go along! :D
> 
> p.s. Jungkook, Lisa and Rosé are aged up a year, just so that they can all be at school together :)
> 
> hope you enjoy! ^^

“Happy 17th birthday, Jungkook!” Taehyung cheers as he pushes past Jungkook and into the house. “I got you a present.” The next thing Jungkook knows, there’s a DVD-shaped parcel in his hands and Taehyung is smiling at him excitedly as he chants, “Open it, open it!”

“Okay, okay,” Jungkook says, placating him as he tears open the paper. “What are you, 6?” He unwraps it to see the new Power Rangers video game – and he’s completely in shock, because it only came out yesterday and it’s also _seriously_ overpriced. He’s been saving up for months to be able to buy it and he still only has half the funds. “Jesus, how did you get hold of this?” Jungkook asks in bewilderment.

“You like it?” Taehyung grins happily.

“Duh,” Jungkook snorts. “You must have spent your entire savings account on it, oh my God.”

“It’s no big deal,” Taehyung shrugs. “Shall we play it now?” he asks, already making his way up the stairs. “Your room is such a mess,” he announces seriously as he flattens himself on the bed. “There’s crap everywhere. You should probably throw some stuff out.”

“Maybe I’ll throw you out,” Jungkook shrugs nonchalantly, ignoring Taehyung’s offended gasp as he gets out the game and sets up the console.

“You started driving yet?” Taehyung asks as they wait for the screen to load.

“First lesson tomorrow,” Jungkook answers, unable to stop the excited grin from spreading across his face.

“Why not today?” Taehyung frowns.

Jungkook shrugs. “I’m with you today.”

Taehyung nods in acknowledgement. Ever since they were little, it’s been routine for them to spend their birthdays together. Even once their friendship group expanded and they got older and wanted to throw parties to celebrate, they would throw a party for their wider group of friends at the weekend and still spend their actual birthdays with only each other.

“If you were going to be a Power Ranger, which one would you be?” Taehyung asks as the Power Rangers appear onscreen.

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “None of them. I can hardly cope with school, let alone saving the world.”

“I would be the Red one,” Taehyung continues, as if Jungkook didn’t speak. “He’s always the leader, you know? I’d rock that position.”

“You’d be a shit leader,” Jungkook snorts. “You’d just run around trying to do everything yourself. How do these controls work?” he wonders aloud as he struggles to navigate the welcome screen.

“Give it here,” Taehyung instructs, holding out his fingers for Jungkook’s controller. Jungkook is always Player 1, even with the games that Taehyung understands more. Taehyung never questions it, because he likes to let Jungkook believe he’s the one in control, even if it’s all a façade. “And I’d be a great leader, FYI. Just you wait.”

Jungkook scoffs. “Until what, when you become a Power Ranger?” He tries not to focus on the sparks of electricity he feels when his fingers brush against Taehyung’s. He’s used to the sensation by now.

“I always wanted to be a Power Ranger when I was younger,” Taehyung comments offhandedly, still fiddling with the controller.

“Everyone did – it’s, like, the very definition of childhood,” Jungkook says disinterestedly.

“Aha!” Taehyung passes the controller back to Jungkook triumphantly and picks up his own, already choosing the Red Ranger as his avatar. “Do you remember how we used to run around in our Power Ranger outfits when we were kids, pretending to fight evil?” he chuckles.

“Obviously,” Jungkook grins. “I also remember when you decided that you were bored of us both being Rangers and suddenly announced that I was now the enemy, before you hit me over the head with your sword.”

“I was only seven,” Taehyung protests.

“You were old enough to know better,” Jungkook argues.

“I’m never old enough to know better,” Taehyung grins back. His point is proven a couple hours later when Taehyung and Jungkook have almost defeated the monster in the game, but then Taehyung turns around and attacks Jungkook instead, leaving the pitiful Blue Ranger dead on the floor. ‘Game Over’ flashes across their screens as Jungkook groans.

“What the fuck?” Jungkook protests, his voice muffled against Taehyung’s shirt where Taehyung is lying on top of him. “We almost _had_ him.”

“I was bored,” Taehyung shrugs.

“I’m bored of _you_ ,” Jungkook proclaims, pushing him off and sitting up on the bed again, but of course he’s lying. He could never get bored of Taehyung.

***

“Am I late?” Jungkook says quietly as he drops his bag onto Rosé’s desk, quickly sitting down next to her.

“Nah, she’s just about to start,” Rosé answers.

As if on cue, the History teacher stands up and calls the class to attention with an excited “Welcome back!” Unsurprisingly, very few students share her enthusiasm, but she isn’t deterred. “You’ll all need to pair up,” she announces, “because we’ll be starting on a two-week project today.”

“Is she insane?” Jungkook mumbles distastefully. “Who sets a two-week project on the first day back to school?”

“She must be taking the piss,” Rosé agrees with a frown, eyes still on the board as she pretends to pay attention. Perhaps that’s the reason teachers almost always prefer Rosé over him – at least she _pretends_ to listen. Jungkook usually just tunes out if he isn’t interested in what’s being taught. Not his finest quality, but he can’t help not being interested in the Tudor period.

“Do you know anything about Tudor monarchs?” Rosé asks sceptically when they leave the classroom.

Jungkook snorts in response.

Rosé sighs. “Guess we’re going to the library then.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow at her. “You know, there’s actually this thing, I don’t if you’ve heard of it, but it’s called the _internet –_ ”

“Shut up,” Rosé chuckles, shoving his shoulder. “You get distracted far too easily and I’m not doing all the work on this. If I’m going down, I’m bringing you down with me.”

“I’m so glad we’re friends,” Jungkook deadpans.

Rosé ignores his comment. “We’ll get some history books and skim-read and make a note of everything useful, and then we’ll return them ASAP. Blitz through the project, make sure there are no stupid mistakes, and then have it finished by the end of the week. Deal?”

Jungkook grimaces. “That sounds like a lot of work.”

“I just want to get it done so I don’t have to think about it again,” Rosé shrugs.

***

Jungkook walks into the lunch hall and quickly spots his friends at a nearby table: Changgu, Shinwon and Yanan, but no Taehyung yet. He walks over and puts down his food tray.

“Hey, where’s Taehyung?” Changgu asks Jungkook as he sits down.

Jungkook raises his eyebrows. “No ‘hello’? No ‘how was your summer’?”

“We already saw you last weekend,” Shinwon snorts. “So where _is_ Taehyung?”

“How should I know?” Jungkook asks pointedly.

Changgu shrugs. “You two are always together. Just thought you would know why he’s not here.”

“I think he was waiting until I sat down before walking over,” Jungkook explains. “You know what he was like with it last year.”

“You mean the greetings?” Shinwon asks in surprise. “I thought he’d give up on that this year. It seems like a lot of effort.”

“Well, you know him. Any opportunity to annoy me,” Jungkook replies resignedly.

“Better prepare yourself, then,” Yanan says quietly, gesturing to the corner of the room where Taehyung is walking towards them, a big grin painted on his face.

The grin makes Jungkook feel wary; it means that Taehyung has something planned in his head already. He braces himself for the worst, because even though they’ve had the whole of summer for Taehyung to forget about their stupid lunchtime routine, there’s no chance Jungkook would be so lucky.

It started last year, when Taehyung accidentally spilt his food on Jungkook as they sat down for lunch on the first day back to school. Even though all their friends laughed at them (as well as the rest of the canteen), Taehyung insisted that he did it deliberately (he definitely didn’t) and explained that from now on he was going to greet Jungkook differently at lunch, every day, until Jungkook liked one of the greetings enough for it to stick. He then asked Jungkook whether he wanted gravy in his hair every day and, surprise surprise, Jungkook said no. Alas, Jungkook has never liked any of Taehyung’s greetings, so Taehyung comes up with something different each time. Every single day. Jungkook has no clue how Taehyung hasn’t run out of ideas by now – but then again, it is Taehyung.

Taehyung hits Jungkook in the back of the head as he sits down.

“Ow,” Jungkook complains. He glares at him. “So we’re resorting to violence now?”

Taehyung shrugs unapologetically. “I’ve used up all my ideas that don’t involve physical contact.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Jungkook and shifts closer so that their thighs are touching. “This is going to be a fun week.”

Taehyung is leaning over close enough that Jungkook can feel his breath on his face, so Jungkook rolls his eyes and shoves Taehyung away, trying to ignore the butterflies erupting in his stomach at their proximity. “Shut up and eat your bread,” Jungkook says disinterestedly as he picks up his burger and takes a large bite.

“Touchy,” Taehyung grins. “So,” he says decisively, looking around at the rest of the table as he obediently picks up his bread and ignores Jungkook, “what’s new?”

“We saw you last weekend,” Yanan replies. “So, not much.”

“You hardly saw me,” Taehyung insists. “You were too busy focused on the birthday boy. He’s like that, you know, always demanding attention.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes, but he can’t hide his smile. He’s missed hanging out with his school friends over summer break. Even though they met up with each other regularly, nothing’s as regular as school.

And, more than anything, he’s missed getting to see Taehyung every day. “I hate you too,” Jungkook says through his food, but they all know he doesn’t mean it.

***

The library is practically empty when Jungkook and Rosé arrive. “Do you even know what you’re doing?” Jungkook frowns as Rosé makes her way to one of the bookshelves and starts searching.

“We’re in the history section,” Rosé hisses. “How hard could it be?”

“Do you need any help?” a girl asks them as she approaches. Jungkook is confused by the question until he notices her nametag, which reads ‘Volunteer: Lisa’.

“No thanks, we’re just browsing,” Rosé replies pleasantly.

“We’re in a library, not a clothes shop, what are you doing,” Jungkook snorts after Lisa’s walked away.

Rosé makes a face at him. “Sorry if my library vocab isn’t up to scratch,” she whispers back. “Can you actually help me?”

“I don’t know, can I?” Jungkook replies honestly. He looks at the books on the shelf with vague interest, not really knowing what he’s looking for, while Rosé searches properly. She manages to pick out a few books that seem to fit their requirements and then they head to the desk to check them out.

Lisa is stood behind the counter when they approach, talking to a boy called Jimin who Jungkook recognises from school. Jungkook listens in to their discussion of the New Releases as they wait in line.

“I have no idea how to pick,” Jimin says, “but I really don’t have time to read them all. I have so much homework already.”

“If you want, you can rent them all out,” Lisa suggests as she takes the pile of books from him, flicking through them curiously, “read the first chapter of everything and then return the ones you’re not so interested in.”

“Really?” Jimin responds excitedly, and Jungkook inadvertently wrinkles his nose in distaste at Jimin’s reaction. He never understood the prospect of reading books for fun. He’s much more of a video game guy.

“Absolutely,” Lisa says. “We don’t have a limit here on how many books you can check out a time, and you seem trustworthy enough.”

“Thanks!” Jimin beams. “I’ll look through them over the next couple days and bring back the ones I don’t want on Thursday.”

“That would be great,” Lisa enthuses. Only then does she appear to notice the small queue that’s formed. “Give me one second,” she says quickly before disappearing through a door at the back. She comes out again a moment later and returns to Jimin, continuing their conversation, and Rosé frowns.

But then a tall man with auburn hair walks through the same back door, smiling at them kindly as he gestures for them to come to the front of the counter. He has a friendly face, with dimples in his cheeks – and although he appears to be an actual librarian rather than a volunteer, he doesn’t look much older than Jungkook himself.

“History project?” the librarian asks as he scans their books. His nametag reads ‘Namjoon’.

“Unfortunately,” Jungkook mutters in response.

“That one you can only rent out for 3 days, I’m afraid,” Namjoon informs them as he scans one of the books. “It’s high in demand.”

“Is it really?” Jungkook asks sceptically.

“Thanks, we’ll bring it back on Thursday,” Rosé smiles sweetly, subtly kicking Jungkook with her high heel, which, ouch.

As soon as their books are checked out, they make a beeline for the exit.

“God, why’s it so _quiet_ in there?” Rosé complains.

“It’s a library,” Jungkook says flatly.

“Alright, Einstein,” Rosé scoffs.

“You’re the one who asked,” Jungkook snickers.

Rosé scoffs. “Don’t act all smart with me. Anyway, your place okay to study at tonight?”

Jungkook cocks his head to the side, thinking. “Yeah, if you don’t mind Yeeun’s interrogation.”

Rosé grimaces. “Jeez, I forgot about that. Why is your sister so obsessed with the idea of us dating?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “Probably for the same reason everyone else is. God knows why; we’d be terrible in a relationship.”

“Hey, I’ve had boyfriends,” Rosé protests half-heartedly. “I’m a _great_ person to date. You’ll never know.” She flips her dark hair back and it hits Jungkook in the face.

***

“So are you two finally an item?” Yeeun asks casually as she gets out a stick of gum and starts chewing. It’s a predictable question, knowing her, but Jungkook also didn’t think she’d ask so soon after Rosé getting here.

“Nope,” Jungkook says, plopping onto the sofa and stretching out.

“When are you going to start dating?” Yeeun complains. “My friends keep bugging me about it. Everyone thinks you would be great together.”

Rosé’s probably Jungkook’s closest friend and they have an easy rapport that most of their classmates mistake as flirting. It had put some strain on the friendship at first, when people started gossiping about how they would make a good couple. Jungkook even believed the rumours that Rosé had a crush on him, and he avoided her for a while until she finally cornered him and complained, “You disgust me _far_ too much for you to be boyfriend material. Stop being an idiot.”

“Get up,” Rosé orders Jungkook in the present moment, as they both ignore Yeeun. “We’re sitting at the table, and you _will_ help me with this research.”

Yeeun smirks. “You act like an old married couple.”

“Fuck off, Yeeun,” Jungkook sighs as he follows Rosé through to the kitchen. She’s always been an annoying little sister, but at least before it was because she was always trying to join in with Jungkook and his friends. Nowadays she’s much more interested in fashion and makeup and _boys_ , and Jungkook would never admit it but he kind of misses the days Yeeun would come into his room and bug him to play video games with her.

Approximately 20 minutes later, Jungkook is sat with his head in his hands regretting his education choices. “I’m already bored of this project,” he complains.

“You’ve hardly done anything,” Rosé says distractedly, still reading and making notes.

Jungkook makes a face that she doesn’t see, then checks his phone. There’s a text from Taehyung asking if he’s coming online tonight. Jungkook snaps a picture of Rosé at the kitchen table surrounded by books and sends that as his response, along with a single sad face. Taehyung responds moments later with a sympathetic sad face of his own. Jungkook smiles at the screen involuntarily.

“I mean it,” Rosé says, still not looking up from the books. “If you don’t start pulling your weight then I’m going to make you do the whole thing on your own.”

“It’s literally the first day,” Jungkook says, putting down his phone. “What’s with you?”

“I’m tired of school already,” she says pitifully. “How are we going to get through this year?”

Jungkook shrugs. “We’ll do what we always do. Complain every day, go to house parties every weekend and ignore our responsibilities.”

Rosé hums. “Sounds like a plan.”

***

“You coming over?” Taehyung asks as they walk out of their Computer Science class together. (That choice may have been a mistake, actually. They’ve only had a couple lessons so far, but it looks like the course probably has a lot less to do with video game coding than either of them anticipated.)

Jungkook hesitates. “I’ve got homework.”

“Everyone has homework,” Taehyung scoffs. “Unimportant. Come hang out with me.” Tuesday night is video game night – it’s another tradition that they’ve never quite overcome, even though their workloads have got heavier and there are probably much better things to do.

Jungkook laughs. “Unimportant. Sure. Try telling that to your parents when they see your report card.”

Taehyung grins. “Not everyone has that problem, Kooks. I can’t help that the teachers love me. You just need to work a bit less hard and suck up a bit more.”

Jungkook snorts. “You have the best advice, you know.”

“Yeah. I know.”

It’s silent for a minute as they exit the school gates. Taehyung looks at Jungkook hopefully.

“So you’re coming to mine?”

“Not like you’ve given me a choice,” Jungkook shrugs.

They compromise, in a way. Jungkook gets out his laptop and does a bit of work while he watches Taehyung play the old Power Rangers game out of the corner of his eye. It’s quiet for a while, both of them getting on with their own things, until Taehyung announces, “The monsters in the new version are so much better. They’re actually _scary._ The ones in Power Rangers: Jungle Attack are kind of stupid in comparison.” He glances at Jungkook, looking for his reaction.

“Is this your way of inviting yourself round mine?” Jungkook says flatly. He keeps the new Power Rangers game at his house – obviously, since it’s _his_ – but Taehyung has made no secret of his claim that because he bought it, he should be entitled to unlimited gameplay.

“I’m just saying,” Taehyung shrugs. Then he yelps as he gets hit by a monster. “What the fuck,” he groans, throwing down his controller in protest.

“You weren’t paying much attention,” Jungkook comments. “Are you really surprised?”

“I’m so much better than that,” Taehyung sighs. “How dare that monster underestimate me.”

Jungkook snorts. “Give it here.” What can he say, he’s easily distracted.

“I’ve been trying to get past this level for ages,” Taehyung confides in him. “I doubt you’ll be any help.”

“Have you actually been trying, though?” Jungkook says distractedly, already starting to throw punches and kicks as the monster approaches him. “Or have you been doing it half-heartedly like always.”

Taehyung laughs. “Are you actually complaining at me for talking to you while you’re here? We _could_ just sit in silence.”

“It’s all the same to me.” Jungkook’s mastered the art of seeming dismissive and uninterested when it comes to Taehyung. It’s a blessing, probably. Of course, what he really means by ‘it’s all the same to me’ is that he doesn’t mind whether they talk or sit in silence: either way, Jungkook enjoys his company.

“This level is hard,” Jungkook complains 15 minutes later after many unsuccessful attempts.

Taehyung raises his eyebrows, a cheeky grin on his face. “Told you.”

Jungkook turns away, butterflies erupting in his stomach. “I’d better get home. It’s almost dinner time.”

“Rematch this weekend?” Taehyung suggests. “Multiplayer.”

“Deal.”

***

“I invited my brother to come along too,” Rosé mentions casually a couple days later, when they’re on the way to the library to return their history books.

Jungkook stares at her in response.

Rosé raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“We’ve been friends for ages,” Jungkook says, bewildered. “How did I not know you had a brother?”

“We don’t really advertise it,” Rosé shrugs. “We’re only step-siblings, anyway. It’s not a big deal.”

But Jungkook obviously thinks it _is_ a big deal, because when a boy with ripped jeans and a big black coat walks over, Jungkook’s eyes widen and he hisses, “Yoongi? Your brother is _Yoongi_?”

“What’s wrong with you,” Rosé sighs.

“He’s _scary_ ,” Jungkook protests – and maybe it’s dumb to admit that out loud, but it’s also universally acknowledged that nobody goes near Yoongi. It doesn’t help that he was held back a year, so nobody really knows him. After all, he gives off that type of vibe that makes you not _want_ to know him.

“He’s not scary, he’s just shy,” Rosé says nonchalantly.

“He’s a social recluse,” Jungkook argues, but he shuts up when Yoongi approaches.

“So. The library, right?” Yoongi says, his voice deep and scratchy like he hasn’t used it all day. To be fair, he probably hasn’t. It’s common knowledge that Yoongi is a bit of a loner; that he doesn’t enjoy anybody’s company except his own.

“Uh huh,” Rosé says with a smile, her eyes twinkling like she’s teasing him, and Jungkook feels completely lost.

“Don’t be weird,” Yoongi says with a roll of his eyes.

Yoongi walks a few steps behind them, so Jungkook tries to ignore his presence as he chats to Rosé like normal. Only when they reach the library does Rosé acknowledge her step-brother’s presence again.

“I guess he’s not here yet,” she says to Yoongi as they walk through the doors. The library is completely empty besides them and one other boy who Jungkook vaguely recognises from school. He looks just as lost and out of place as Jungkook feels in this conversation right now. Before Jungkook has a chance to ask them what on earth they’re talking about, Lisa appears from one of the back rooms and the boy visibly sighs in relief before approaching her.

“I’m here to return some books?” he says, phrasing it like a question, and Jungkook shares an amused look with Rosé because – it’s a _library._ Why else would he be here?

Lisa nods, leading him over to the reception desk. “What’s your name?”

“They’ll be down as Park Jimin,” the boy explains.

Yoongi tenses beside Jungkook and he sees Rosé mouth something to her brother that looks suspiciously like ‘sorry’, but he can’t be sure.

Meanwhile, Lisa frowns. “I remember Park Jimin. He came in only a few days ago, and you’re definitely not him.”

“I know,” the boy laughs awkwardly, “but he was stressed about getting his English essay finished tonight, so I said I’d return them for him. I’m his friend Hoseok.” He then reaches into his backpack, pulling out a large pile of books and placing them on the counter. “He also gave me this note to give to you,” he explains as he takes a piece of paper from the front of one of the books and hands it over. “Apparently he wanted to discuss with you why he chose these books to return and the other ones to keep. He says he’d like to discuss it in person when he’s not so busy.”

“That would be great!” Lisa says happily, scanning the books as a grin spreads across her face, and Jungkook can feel Yoongi bristling at his side.

“Let’s go,” Yoongi mutters.

“What the fuck, dude,” Jungkook mumbles back. “We haven’t returned the books yet.”

“Don’t fucking _talk_ to me,” Yoongi snaps.

“He’s almost done, just relax,” Rosé says tiredly. “We’ll return the books and get out of here, okay?”

“Fine,” Yoongi says tersely.

Hoseok finally thanks Lisa and turns to leave, but just as Rosé is approaching the desk there’s a sudden flash of lightning outside and then all the lights go out.

Hoseok blinks as the emergency lighting turns on, looking around at the others. “What the hell was that?”

Rosé shrugs helplessly. “I don’t know.”

Jungkook frowns and walks over to the library door, peering out through the glass. It looks like the lights in a few different shops and houses have gone out too. “Power cut, maybe?” he suggests tentatively. It seems a bit odd, though. One flash of lighting doesn’t exactly equal a storm, and it still looks bright and sunny outside. He tries to pull open the door, but it’s jammed shut.

“The doors are mechanical,” Lisa explains awkwardly. “They must’ve locked automatically when the power went out.” Jungkook tugs at the door again, to no avail.

Hoseok grimaces. “Do you know how to unlock it? I should really be getting home.”

“Yeah, I do…” Lisa mumbles, picking up a set of keys from under the desk. She goes to unlock the door, but the key gets stuck and won’t budge. Her cheeks redden as everyone stares at her. “I’d better go get my supervisor,” she says faintly, making to leave.

But before Lisa has a chance to go anywhere, Namjoon walks out of the storage room and looks around at the customers. “There’s been a disturbance in the atmosphere,” he announces solemnly.

Rosé stares at him incredulously. “It’s called lightning,” she states.

“I’m afraid it’s more complex than that,” Namjoon sighs. “We’ve been expecting something like this for a while, but we had no way to predict when exactly it would happen.”

Before anyone has a chance to ask what exactly _is_ happening, Yoongi steps out from behind Jungkook to get a better look at who’s joined them. “Namjoon?” he says in surprise.

“Yoongi,” Namjoon says, seeming equally as surprised. “Interesting.”

“You work here?” Yoongi asks sceptically. “The last I’d heard, you’d dropped out of your programming course and gone to work for the CIA or something. Everyone in our year seemed to think you were involved in some sort of top secret project.” He gestures pointedly to their surroundings. “Turns out that’s complete bullshit, then. This is why I tell people not to believe rumours.”

Namjoon raises an eyebrow. “Actually, those rumours have a little more truth to them than you might expect.”

Hoseok glances at the others, relieved to see his own confusion mirrored on Lisa, Rosé and Jungkook’s faces. “Am I being a complete idiot,” Hoseok starts apprehensively, “or is everyone else missing the link between ‘CIA’ and ‘librarian’?”

Namjoon sighs. “I have answers. And I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

“Don’t questions usually come before the answers?” Jungkook mumbles to Rosé, but she ignores him.

“You know this guy?” Rosé asks her brother.

“Not well,” Yoongi responds. “He went to our school. Some sort of genius.”

Rosé looks at Namjoon curiously. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?” She says it like it’s a challenge, but Jungkook knows better. She acts more ballsy when she’s scared or unsure.

“I think it’s best if you come with me,” he says, pulling a key from his back pocket. He then walks over to the bookshelf labelled ‘Miscellaneous’ and moves a couple of books away from the shelf, revealing a rusty old lock. After Namjoon puts in the key and turns it, the entire shelf swings open – and it occurs to the others that the shelf must have been built over a door. Clearly to cover something up.

The passageway that’s revealed is dark, but when Namjoon turns on a light it reveals a steep staircase, leading downstairs into who-knows-what.

“This is a little creepy,” Hoseok says nervously.

Lisa is also looking at the staircase apprehensively, but her voice is confident when she says, “I trust Namjoon.” She then follows him down the staircase. Yoongi’s approving nod to his sister is all the others need to follow down as well.

“What the hell _is_ this place?” Jungkook asks Lisa in bewilderment as they reach the bottom.

Lisa shrugs helplessly. “I didn’t know about any of this.”

“I guess I can see why,” Rosé says weakly, staring at her surroundings.

The walls are all dark brown, apart from a feature wall at the back which is covered in painted flowers. The floor is made of stone, maybe some kind of mosaic if they were to look more closely and notice the flowers printed there too. Although the walls and floor look as if they could’ve been that way for decades, the equipment surrounding them gives the room a much more modern contrast. A stark white computer sits atop a white desk, with a white chair underneath. Other brightly coloured contraptions are visible everywhere they look, although Jungkook has no idea what they’re supposed to be used for.

“The time has come,” a man says sombrely as he walks into the room, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

“Uh, no offense, but who are _you_?” Rosé asks the man.

“That’s my boss,” Lisa pipes up, sounding extremely confused. “His name is Jaehyung. He owns the library.”

“That’s right, Park Jaehyung at your service,” the librarian says. His expression is unreadable, but his eyes are lit up excitedly. “I’m so pleased to finally meet you.”

“What do you mean?” Hoseok replies uncertainly, looking around the room as if it’ll give him some sort of clue. If Jungkook were to guess based on the surroundings, he’d say they were about to be the subject of a cruel human experiment. He hopes it isn’t anything too sinister.

“This is no ordinary day,” Jaehyung continues, “and you five are no ordinary people. You’re going to become… the Power Rangers.”

Within a split second, the tense atmosphere dissipates.

Rosé snorts. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not kidding,” Jaehyung tells them seriously.

“What was the dramatic pause for?” Hoseok giggles. “That was so extra.”

“I think you’ve been spending too much time in the library,” Yoongi contributes. “You know that the Power Rangers are _fiction_ , right?”

“You mean ‘fictitious’,” Lisa corrects him automatically. Yoongi glares at her until she blushes and turns away.

“They’re not fictitious,” Namjoon states, turning his computer screen around so that it’s facing the five teenagers. “It’s been prophesised – and you can see the details here, on the screen. Five colours have lit up: these five colours represent the five of you.”

“But – that was just _chance_ ,” Jungkook protests. “Anyone could have been in the library when the power cut started.”

“But it wasn’t just anyone, was it?” Jaehyung says pointedly. “It was you.”

“But – but I could be _anyone_ ,” Jungkook insists.

“He’s got a point,” Hoseok acknowledges. “Why us?”

“Fate has its reasons,” Jaehyung insists.

Rosé scoffs disbelievingly. “Am I stuck in Jungkook’s dream or something?” She turns to him, pinching his arm. “Wake up!” she shouts.

“Shut up,” Jungkook grumbles back. “Seriously? If this was my dream, the Ranger team would look _totally_ different.”

“So it’s real. We’re just trapped in a librarian’s basement.” She groans. “Fucking fantastic.”

“No one’s forcing you to stay here,” Jaehyung assures her. “The power will come back on in a few seconds and the front door will unlock itself.”

As if by magic, the lights flicker again, before coming back on much brighter. The computer screen goes blank and then whirrs back to life. Hoseok watches the events take place in amazement.

“But I know that you _will_ stick around,” Jaehyung continues confidently, “because you care about saving the universe from evil.”

“You’re crazy,” Rosé states, already backing away. “I’m out of here.”

“I’m with you there,” Jungkook nods. “Sorry,” he adds offhandedly to the librarians as he exits the room with Rosé.

“Good luck saving the world,” Hoseok says genuinely before following the others out. Yoongi follows him without a further word.

Jaehyung looks at Lisa hopefully.

Lisa looks back at him apologetically. “You know how much I respect you,” she starts, “and although I don’t know what’s going on, I wish you luck with everything. What I _do_ know is that this isn’t anything _I_ can help with.” She turns to leave, then falters, visibly uncomfortable. “This is just – too _weird._ I’m sorry.” With that, she walks away up the stairs.

Namjoon sighs, turning to the five lit up colours on his computer screen resignedly. “That could’ve gone better.”

“They’ll come around,” Jaehyung reassures him.

Namjoon hums. “They’ll have to.”

***

The following week, Jungkook and Rosé are on their way back to his house to do some final work on their history presentation, when a dark cloud comes overhead at lightning speed. Within seconds, rain starts pouring down.

Jungkook squints up at the sky. “I swear clouds shouldn’t move that quickly…” he mumbles to himself.

“Looks like a storm’s breaking out,” Rosé says as the rainfall gets heavier. She’s already moving her bag to cover her hair.

Jungkook looks around for a sign of a shop that might still be open, cursing himself for not thinking to bring an umbrella. The weather isn’t usually so bad this time of year. “Quick – in here,” he says as he rushes to the door of a nearby building. They both duck inside and take off their jackets, already needing to ring them out slightly.

“My hair is going to be such a mess,” Rosé groans.

“Sorry, but could you keep it down please?” a girl says from nearby. “This is meant to be a quiet place where people can come to work.”

Jungkook shrugs. “I guess it’s better than my place, anyway,” he says quietly to Rosé. “Why don’t we just work here while we wait for the storm to subside?”

Rosé is still looking in the direction of the check-in desk. “Jungkook,” she hisses. “Did it really have to be the creepy library from last week?”

Jungkook blinks, then looks around. Sure enough, the second storm seems to have left them trapped in the same place as before. Lisa smiles awkwardly at him when he catches her eye, probably the most casual ‘hi, I met you a few days ago when my boss told us we had to save the world from evil forces’ acknowledgement possible.

Jungkook looks out the window anxiously. The rain is unrelenting now and there’s even the distant sound of thunder. “I don’t think we’ll be leaving any time soon,” he tells Rosé. “Let’s just deal with it. It’s not that big a deal anyway.”

So they wander over to the history section, get out the books that they’ll need to be returning soon anyway, and get to work on their project. The time goes much more slowly than it probably would have done had they been working at Jungkook’s house, but it’s also noticeably more productive. Apart from a couple breaks to look at texts from Taehyung (dancing in the rain in his garden – really who’d have thought otherwise), he works pretty much constantly.

A couple hours later and Jungkook is remarkably hungry but pretty satisfied with their work. Another hour on this project and it’ll probably be finished completely. A whole week before the deadline! Jungkook never thought he’d see the day.

“Hey, the sun’s coming through again,” Rosé whispers to him, pointing out the nearby window. “We should pack our things and head out.”

Jungkook sighs. “Finally. One more second researching and I think my head would explode. Do you want to finish this tomorrow?”

“One hundred percent,” Rosé says. “I’m not doing any more on this today. Actually, I gave up about half an hour ago, but you were working so hard I thought I’d let you keep going.”

Jungkook looks at her, affronted, and she snickers.

The rest of the evening goes by as normal, for the most part: he and Rosé part ways as soon as they leave the library, and when Jungkook gets home he eats and ignores Yeeun. The usual.

The difference is that when Yeeun turns on the TV to watch some reality show trash, she doesn’t change the channel away from the news like she usually would. “Bored of Love Island already?”

“Shut up, there’s been an attack,” she mumbles.

Jungkook frowns, looking at the TV and gesturing for her to turn up the volume.

“…monster who attacked the streets, which seemed to be the cause of storms across the city,” the newsreader says. “Although the target of these attacks seemed to be buildings and monuments rather than people, 6 civilians have been hospitalised following the attack, and a further 12 have injuries that they reported were due to close proximity to the monster at the time of attack.”

Jungkook gulps. This isn’t right. He checks his phone again, makes sure there are no panicked messages from Taehyung. _Did you hear about the attack?_ he types, then hits send.

“What the fuck,” Yeeun mutters. “Do you think it’s a late April Fools joke or something? How can there be a _monster_ causing stormy weather in the city? And why here?”

“I don’t know,” Jungkook says, a sinking sensation in his stomach. He looks at his phone again and quickly forwards the message onto Rosé.

 _Madness,_ she texts back minutes later. _We need to talk._

Yeeun peers over his shoulder and sees the last notification on his screen, giggling to herself. “Ooh, someone’s in trouble.”

“Shut up, you know we’re not dating,” Jungkook says half-heartedly.

He tunes out Yeeun’s voice as she says, “Well you’re definitely not now.”

Rosé’s right: they definitely need to talk. Because if this monster stuff is real… then what if the Ranger stuff is real, too?

***

All anyone can talk about at school the next day is the monster attack. A few people in Jungkook’s registration class voiced their concern for the people who got injured, but mainly everyone is preoccupied with the pictures from the attack circulating on the internet. There’s now real documentation that this monster exists, and no one can get over it.

Of course, Taehyung is irrationally excited by the whole thing.

“I can’t believe monsters really exist,” he says in awe as he looks at the pictures of the monster he’s already saved on his phone. He’s been glued to the internet since he finished his lunch. “It looks so _creepy._ ”

Jungkook looks over his shoulder. “It looks a bit dumb, actually.”

The monster has a dark grey, cloud-shaped face with a wide grin that reminds Jungkook of Thomas the Tank Engine. Its white body is wide and puffy, almost like it could be made of marshmallow or candy floss. Even its shoes are ridiculous, coloured metallic black and shaped like lightning bolts.

“It really reminds me of the old school Power Rangers films,” Changgu comments.

“Yeah, I see that,” Shinwon agrees emphatically. “I wonder where it came from? Or how it got made?”

“You don’t think the creators were inspired by the monsters from Power Rangers, do you?” Yanan asks. He’s the only one Jungkook’s seen today who looks a little worried about the situation.

“Maybe,” Taehyung acknowledges. “It is pretty similar.”

“Maybe it’s just a man dressed up in a suit,” Shinwon grins. “Like the monsters in Scooby Doo.”

“It could have been Scooby Doo inspired too, now I think about it,” Yanan contemplates. He then nods to himself, satisfied, and Jungkook chuckles knowingly. The villains from _that_ cartoon aren’t nearly as frightening.

“But still, how did it manage to create a storm?” Changgu continues.

Jungkook shrugs. “Maybe it was just coincidence?”

“On three separate occasions?” Taehyung says pointedly. “Oh Jungkook, how daft you can be.”

Jungkook snorts and focuses back on his food.

Taehyung has a point. This couldn’t have been purely coincidental. The words _it’s been prophesised_ come into Jungkook’s head without warning, and he shakes himself out of it. It must be some practical joke.

But then again, what if it’s not? What if real people are actually in hospital because of this, when it’s something Jungkook could have prevented?

***

It turns out it’s easy enough to talk to the others about it. At the end of their History lesson that afternoon, Rosé grabs Jungkook’s arm to stop him from booking it out of the classroom like usual, and they wait for everyone else to leave the room. Jungkook turns around to check if they’re alone yet and does a double take.

“That girl from the library is in our History class?” Jungkook hisses to Rosé.

“How don’t you know anyone?” Rosé replies.

Jungkook looks at her blankly. “How would I?”

Rosé sighs. “Yes, Lisa’s in our class, she’s just quiet. I can’t believe you don’t know any of your classmates.”

“Do you know _everyone_?” Jungkook frowns.

“I recognise the people I see every day,” Rosé says flatly. “How are you so popular when you don’t socialise?”

“Hey, I socialise,” Jungkook scoffs. “Just not with you.”

Lisa approaches their table nervously. “Uh… can we talk?”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Rosé replies, gesturing for Lisa to take a seat. She tries to smile, but it comes out more like a grimace. “I don’t know about you two, but I haven’t been able to concentrate all weekend.”

“Same here,” Jungkook agrees.

“Me too,” Lisa admits.

“I’ve seen pictures of that thing. It really does look like a Power Rangers monster,” Jungkook says, albeit hesitantly. It’s a ridiculous thought to entertain. But, like it or not, there’s a monster out there attacking the city and it’s probably better to accept that sooner rather than later.

“I still don’t understand how any of this can be real,” Lisa says quietly. “But on the off chance we can actually change it… what do we do?”

“I’ve got no clue,” Jungkook says. “Why do we think _we_ can do anything about it, anyway?”

“Because we were told we could,” Rosé mumbles, a little defeatedly. She doesn’t have any clue how they’re supposed to help, either.

“I think we need to talk to Jaehyung again,” Lisa admits.

“The creepy librarian guy?” Rosé says doubtfully.

“You don’t know him, but I do, and he’s a kind and honest person,” Lisa insists. “He hasn’t mentioned anything to me again since I said no, so I know he’ll respect our wishes if we don’t want to get involved. But I think we should listen to what he has to say.”

There’s a small silence.

“So it’s settled then,” Jungkook says. “We go back to the library and hear him out.”

“What about the others?” Lisa asks.

“I talked to Yoongi about it already,” Rosé says. “He’s keener than I am, at least.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow. “That’s surprising.”

Rosé sighs. “So we’re doing this then. When do we go?”

“I need to head over there now, anyway,” Lisa says. “I volunteer for an hour and a half every day after school.”

“An hour and a half?” Jungkook repeats disbelievingly. “Why so long?”

“I like it there,” Lisa says simply.

There are some people Jungkook will never understand.

***

Yoongi meets them on the walk down, having received a text from his sister telling him that they’re all going. “Where’s Hoseok?” he asks when he arrives. His voice is gruffer than Jungkook remembers and Jungkook tries not to shiver. He can’t help but feel Yoongi is considerably scarier than the monster attacking the city.

“Shit, I forgot about him,” Rosé winces. “He’s not in any of my classes and I don’t think I’ve spoken to him before.” She stops abruptly. “Oh well, I guess we’ll just do this another day, right?”

Jungkook cackles despite himself. “You’re not getting out of it that easily.” Even when they approach the library, Rosé hesitates before stepping inside, and Jungkook turns to face her. “It’s just a library, stop being so spooked.”

Rosé rolls her eyes but follows them in.

To their surprise, Hoseok is already inside, sat at one of the tables with a pile of books in front of him and looking remarkably uncomfortable. “Hi,” he says eagerly when he sees Lisa walk in. “Jimin has more books to give back? I thought I’d wait for you to get here because he had another note to pass on…” He trails off uncertainly when he notices the others walking in behind her.

“Are you really just here for the books?” Jungkook asks him hesitantly. “Or do you feel like we need to do something about this too?”

Hoseok sighs. “I’ve never fought anyone before. I loved the Power Rangers films, but I don’t see how I’m supposed to _be_ one. This whole thing is so out of my comfort zone.”

“Am I the only one who actually doesn’t know what Power Rangers are?” Lisa queries.

Rosé looks at her in surprise. “You never watched the cartoons growing up?”

“I grew up in Thailand. Maybe it wasn’t such a big thing over there?” Lisa ponders.

“You’ve been deprived,” Hoseok declares, already seeming more confident now that he’s talking about something he loves. “Power Rangers is the greatest franchise of our time! I was more into the old sci-fi films, personally, but everyone I knew watched the spin-off cartoon when I was growing up. They even modernised the storyline and made it creepier, for the video game series that started a few years back.”

“The graphics are great in the game,” Jungkook agrees. “I just got the most recent one and it’s gruesome, really. They’ve stepped up their game big time.”

Lisa looks at them blankly. “But… what are they?” she reiterates.

“They’re basically fighters,” Jungkook explains. “But they have special powers. They’re like superheroes, but they’re not _born_ as superheroes. Any normal human being can become a Ranger. That’s what’s so great about it,” he enthuses.

Yoongi blinks. “This is plausible, then?” They’re his first words since entering the library, and Hoseok looks at him in surprise.

“What do mean?” Hoseok asks obliviously. “It’s just part of the storyline.”

“If anyone can become a Power Ranger, then we can too,” Yoongi explains.

Lisa gulps. “I think we need to talk to Namjoon and Jaehyung about all this.”

At that moment, Namjoon appears with a pile of books to put away. He stops in his tracks as soon as he sees who his only customers are, a massive grin spreading across his face. “I knew you’d come back.”

Rosé looks around at the others, searching for confirmation, before she turns to Namjoon. “Yeah, we’re back,” she says decisively. “And we’re ready to listen.”

Namjoon smiles wider, as if that’s at all possible. “That’s fantastic news!” He then pauses, takes in a deep breath. “Your journey to becoming the first Power Rangers team starts here.”

Hoseok sniggers. “Have you been practising that line?”

Rosé raises an eyebrow at Jungkook. “Something tells me this is going to be a long night.”

“We’re fine to listen to what you have to say, but we’re not going to the basement again until we know this is legit,” Yoongi pipes up.

“I’m with you on that,” Jungkook nods.

“No problem at all,” Namjoon says easily. “Stay there and I’ll go get Jaehyung – I’ll bring up my laptop too. We have so much to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of characters to introduce so I hope it wasn’t too confusing!! Let me know whether you liked it, I thrive on validation ^-^
> 
> p.s. If you didn’t know, everything about the power rangers sci-fi films, cartoon series and video game franchise is made up for the purpose of this story lol. it’s actually just a long-running kids’ TV show (with different power rangers almost every season)


	2. flower rangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rangers discover their powers and have their first fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we’ll meet the evil characters this chapter :D
> 
> also this isn’t important really but just fyi, this is set in England (because trying to write this using the Korean, Japanese or American schooling system would be too confusing for my poor English brain)

Jungkook sighs. “Okay, then. Explain how this works.”

They’re sitting at a table in the library, crowded around Namjoon’s computer. Jaehyung has closed the library early and shut all the blinds, just in case someone were to walk past and get some inside information on the Power Rangers. This is a top secret project, so they’re told.

Jungkook’s schooling a cool expression on his face, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited.

Namjoon grins and eagerly opens up a few applications on his computer. “Do you see here? – There are seven Ranger outfits. It was prophesised that six fighters would start the team, and then the seventh and final fighter would be chosen later on, as someone who had marked themselves as a useful and loyal addition to the team.”

“But there are only five of us,” Rosé frowns.

Namjoon smiles noncommittally. “I don’t know why the Orange Ranger wasn’t with you at the time of the attack. I can only assume it’s because they’re not yet ready to access their powers.”

“What are the powers exactly?” Hoseok asks excitedly.

“There are some common features, like extra strength and improved reflexes,” Namjoon explains. “But you’ll have your own specialised weapons, too, which depends on your colour. Each Ranger suit is based on a particular flower – although I’m not able to access _which_ flowers until you’ve connected to your communicators and morphed for the first time.” Jungkook’s eyes widen in interest: he’s never heard of a group of Power Rangers whose powers are based on flowers. This is different.

“Morphed?” Lisa questions.

“It means transformed – into your Ranger suit,” Jungkook explains.

“Oh – right,” Lisa replies. “I don’t really… know much about this. I know about flowers, though,” she continues hopefully. “Will that be helpful?”

“Definitely,” Jaehyung confirms. “You’ll be able to help figure out what the key characteristics are of each flower – and that will help us determine the key characteristics of each Ranger.”

“You mean… the flowers connect to us if we have similar personalities?” Lisa deciphers.

“Flowers don’t have personalities,” Yoongi snorts. “They’re _flowers._ ”

“Until you’ve actually stepped foot in a garden, don’t act as if you know anything about them,” Lisa responds.

The others look at her in shock. Arguably the shyest person at their school has just talked back to Min Yoongi. This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

“ _Your_ flower is obviously easily offended,” Rosé says, her voice monotone.

“Lisa’s right,” Jaehyung interjects. “Characteristics of each flower link to your personalities; that’s how you were picked. So, I suppose the next step is to give you your communicators.”

“Communicators?” Rosé asks.

“They’re used to communicate,” Jungkook explains.

Rosé glances at him. “Duh.”

Namjoon ignores them, his grin widening as he opens the flap of what could only be described as a picnic basket. Jungkook peers curiously inside.

“These are your communicators…” Namjoon holds the basket out for the others to see.

Yoongi looks at the pile of devices inside, then takes one out. “This is a smart watch.”

Namjoon raises an eyebrow. “It’s _disguised_ as a smart watch.”

Hoseok reaches his hand inside, also taking a communicator. “These are impressive,” he says approvingly.

“What’s wrong with phones?” Rosé asks as she picks out a watch as well, Lisa and Jungkook following closely behind. “Surely we don’t need an extra device just to talk to each other.”

“They’re linked up to another device I’ve been working on, which detects any supernatural activity in the nearby area,” Namjoon replies.

“In other words, they’ll beep when a monster appears in the city,” Jaehyung clarifies when Rosé looks at them blankly.

“They each have a jewel on the clock face which represents your colour,” Namjoon explains. “I designed them myself.”

“They look amazing,” Lisa says. “Yellow’s my favourite colour,” she adds with a small smile.

Jungkook looks down at his watch to look at the jewel and blanches when he sees its colour.

Yoongi raises an eyebrow at him. “What about the watch is so scary?”

Jungkook smiles uncomfortably. “I wasn’t expecting to get the red one.” Sure, Jungkook likes _pretending_ to be the one in charge, that’s why he’s always Player 1 in video games, but he doesn’t actually want to _lead_ anything. The Red Ranger is meant to be the confident one, the one who tells everyone else what to do – the one who _knows_ what everyone else should do. Jungkook is pretty much clueless about everything, and he owns it. That’s his charm.

Shit. He’s going to have to bluff his way through this, isn’t he? Seriously, where’s Taehyung when you need him?

“What’s so special about the red jewel?” Lisa asks curiously.

“The Red Ranger is always the leader,” Jungkook explains.

“Yeah, you should switch with someone else,” Rosé agrees. “I’m not taking orders from you.”

“Sorry, but no can do,” Jaehyung says unapologetically. “Even if you swapped communicators, your DNA only bonds with one of the jewels. You’ll be incompatible with all the others.”

Namjoon is leaning forward in his seat, unable to contain his excitement. “Are you going to morph yet? I’ve been waiting for _months_ to see what flower each of your suits will be based on.”

Yoongi pauses. “How come you don’t know already? Didn’t you design these suits too?”

Namjoon shrugs. “It’s inaccessible to anyone except the Ranger themself. Probably a security issue.” He turns back to his computer screen, undeniably proud. “I designed the suits, but there’s one section that I left blank so that the jewel could express its true identity. Each belt should be held together by your designated flower. It was the easiest way I could think of to determine how to harness your powers early on.”

“We need a catchphrase, right?” Hoseok asks eagerly. “Let me try. Flower Up!” he shouts to the sky, punching his fist in the air.

He waits there for a few moments, a big grin on his face. Rosé’s laughter escapes her before she has a chance to hold it in.

Nothing happens, and Hoseok falters. “What did I do wrong?”

Lisa smiles awkwardly. “Actually, I think we’re just meant to press the button.” She taps the button on the side of her watch and a bright yellow spandex suit shoots out the side, covering her body head to toe within milliseconds. The suit is reminiscent of typical Power Rangers style – body-hugging spandex with fluorescent colouring, complete with an inbuilt helmet, visor, gloves and boots – but it’s unlike anything Jungkook’s seen before. The pattern over the eyes is shaped like flower petals and a small sunflower head sits in the middle of her belt.

“Wow,” Lisa says from inside the suit. “This feels strange.” Her voice is slightly warped, and Jungkook wonders whether there’s an inbuilt voice-changing function to help protect their identities.

“A sunflower…” Namjoon says, taking note. “Perfect, I designed a weapon for this one just in case…”

“I’m a sunflower?” Lisa repeats, perking up. “That’s my favourite flower!”

“If all the flowers are this common, this will be a lot easier than we expected,” Jaehyung says offhandedly to Namjoon.

As it turns out, there’s a real mix of flowers. Lisa is a sunflower, Hoseok is a blue iris, and Jungkook is a rose – three flowers that Namjoon’s already designed weapons for on the off chance that they would come up. Yoongi’s pink azalea is a little less common but Namjoon has a few ideas, and Rosé’s violet spider flower is fully unexpected.

“Why does Jungkook get the rose?” Rosé asks in confusion. “That’s literally my name. I don’t even know what a spider flower is.”

“Neither do I,” Namjoon admits.

“You need to get working on this pronto,” Jaehyung instructs Namjoon, who’s already scribbling furiously on a piece of scrap paper. “We don’t know how long we have until the next attack.”

“Guys, guys, you know what this makes us, right?” Hoseok says excitedly, looking around at his teammates. “Flower Rangers.”

“Seriously?” Yoongi says to the room, deadpan. “I have to fight evil with _this_ guy?”

Hoseok cackles in response.

“So that’s it?” Lisa asks interestedly, once they’ve all de-morphed. “Now we just wait for the monster to show up again?”

“Actually, it’s not that simple,” Namjoon corrects her. “The suit may give you extra power and strength, but it doesn’t give you skill. That’s something you’ll need to build on your own.”

“I have a training schedule planned out for you,” Jaehyung announces. He then offers his first smile so far, surprising the others. It’s the first time he’s seemed friendly rather than domineering, and the look suits him. “It’s going to be intense, but it’s there to keep you safe. I trust you’ll take it seriously. You’ll need to come here every day after school, once the library closes around 5pm, to build your skills and your teamwork.”

Rosé sighs. “It’s a good thing we got that History project almost finished, huh?” she says quietly to Jungkook. Jungkook grimaces in response.

***

The Computer Science teacher is busy trying to explain the basics of coding a website, and Jungkook is half-trying to listen. But Taehyung keeps talking in his ear.

“Do you think after this lesson we’ll have the skills to make our own version of The Impossible Quiz?” he says at one point.

Jungkook grunts. “I forgot that existed.”

“The Impossible Quiz, the definition of childhood,” Taehyung says wistfully. “How could you forget your roots?”

“Not everything is the definition of childhood,” Jungkook responds distractedly, staring at the whiteboard as he copies something down into his notebook. “Some things are just a part of it.”

“I used to play it for the background music,” Taehyung confesses. “I didn’t know the song existed outside of that.”

Jungkook snorts, louder this time, then shuffles uncomfortably in his seat when the teacher gives him a pointed look.

There’s a lapse in conversation for a few minutes as they both take down notes. That is, until the teacher mentions computer graphics and sets Taehyung off again, encouraging his wild imagination to take over his brain.

“When will we learn how to make our own version of Overwatch?” he whispers as the teacher drones on.

Jungkook grunts. “Since most other computer scientists seem opposed to do anything fun, I vote never.” Which Taehyung apparently takes as his cue to make the lesson more interesting himself, relating each concept they’ll be studying to something you can find in Overwatch. Jungkook can’t deny it – it does make the content more appealing. Even if he can’t exactly hear the teacher over Taehyung’s rambling.

Taehyung’s talking about hacking into the video game code to alter the graphics (something neither of them is sure is possible but _sounds_ cool) when the teacher raises his voice. “Taehyung, Jungkook. Stay behind after class.”

Jungkook looks down at his book, embarrassed, while Taehyung simply smiles politely and nods.

“We’re going to be late for lunch now,” Jungkook mutters, once the teacher’s attention is diverted again.

Taehyung hums. “I blame you.”

***

After an awkward telling off from their teacher where they both promise to pay more attention next time, Taehyung and Jungkook head to lunch together. Taehyung is ahead of him in the queue but, somewhat predictably, he refuses to sit down when they reach their table. Jungkook knows he must have some plan up his sleeve, but he still looks at Taehyung questioningly as he loiters. Nothing happens at all for a full three seconds, so Jungkook rolls his eyes to himself and goes to sit down.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!” Taehyung yells.

Jungkook flinches, then stumbles, dropping his lunch tray and practically falling off the bench he was halfway through sitting himself down on. He lands unceremoniously with his side on the floor and his feet still caught up in the bench – which, _ouch,_ by the way – and glares up at Taehyung with all the strength he can muster. (Who’s giggling uncontrollably. Of course.)

“What the fuck?” he groans.

“Thought it’d be funny,” Taehyung says nonchalantly, sitting down as if nothing at all has happened. Clearly he either doesn’t notice all the people in the dining hall now staring at him, or he simply doesn’t care. Probably the latter.

Jungkook stands up and dusts himself off, then sits down to eat. Thankfully his tray dropped directly onto the table and, all considering, there’s minimal spillage.

“You’re a fucking nutcase,” Shinwon tells Taehyung.

“Why thank you,” Taehyung replies, wiggling his eyebrows before he takes a big bite of his food.

“Why do I still hang out with you?” Jungkook asks, a genuine question as he picks up his fork and trying to ignore the ache in his back. Honestly, the last thing he needed today was to get injured by one of his friends. He’ll suffer enough damage whenever that storm-generating monster returns.

“Because you love me,” Taehyung proclaims, followed by another bite with noisy chewing.

Jungkook freezes.

Shit. He _knows?_ _Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit sh–_

“Why are you gazing into the distance like that?” Yanan asks cautiously.

Taehyung pokes Jungkook in the side, and he squirms away. “Jungkookie, this is the moment when you tell me that you’ve actually hated me all our lives and you’ll hate me for the rest of eternity, and we all know your words are empty, and then we move on with our lives?” he prompts him.

Jungkook chuckles awkwardly. “Sorry. Spaced out for a second there. Maybe you gave me a concussion.”

Taehyung frowns, and to his credit he does look genuinely worried for a second, before he shrugs it off. “Then you need to build up your strength, my friend.”

Yanan stares at him. “In his skull?”

Jungkook snickers. “There’s a reason he’s not taking science this year.”

Taehyung opens his mouth, but Jungkook cuts him off before he has a chance to speak.

“Nope, Computer Science doesn’t count.”

“Computer Science is a load of crap anyway,” Taehyung divulges. “We got held back after class today for talking about Overwatch while we were working. Honestly, what would be _more_ relevant?”

“Is that why you were late to lunch?” Changgu asks.

“Yeah,” Jungkook replies, “and if you give me _one_ more reason why it’s actually my fault I’m going to punch you in the face,” he tells Taehyung.

Yanan snickers. “You’ve angered him.”

Taehyung pats Jungkook on the knee. “Sorry, Kooks.”

Jungkook sighs and tries not to think about Taehyung’s hand on his thigh. “Yeah, yeah. Course you are.”

***

“Welcome to your first day of training!” Jaehyung says, once they’re all in the library basement. Apparently, this is their headquarters. (It certainly looks the part, but the fact that it’s underneath a library sits a little weirdly with Jungkook. It’s probably the contrast; knowing they’re practising how to destroy monsters, a loud and vicious task, underneath a place that’s designed to be calm and quiet.)

“This is the best birthday ever,” Namjoon says quietly from the corner.

“It’s your birthday?” Lisa asks in surprise.

“Yes, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it,” Namjoon says, a soft smile on his face. “This is the beginning of our journey in defending our planet. It’s an honour, really.”

“Do you ever think that maybe he’s been brainwashed into this,” Rosé says quietly to Jungkook, who sniggers.

“Happy birthday Namjoon,” Yoongi says, the others echoing his words. “So, training? What are we starting with?”

“Sparring,” Jaehyung answers. “Martial arts. Any of you have any knowledge there already?”

“I did some taekwondo when I was younger,” Jungkook offers.

Jaehyung smiles. “Perfect. You can help me with the demonstration.”

Jungkook immediately regrets saying anything.

After Jaehyung has proven his strength and skill by throwing Jungkook on the floor a couple times, they all get to work. It’s a slower process for some than others, Yoongi not having too much control over his body and Lisa not being used to trying to attack people. (“You should stop apologising,” Hoseok recommends. “You’re _meant_ to attack me.”)

But even across the next hour or so, they all start to get the hang of the basics. “I’ve had fun,” Lisa comments when they finally get a break. “You know, if I forget we’re harming living things, I can really get behind this.”

“The monsters are made of machinery and bestowed magical powers,” Yoongi says flatly. “They aren’t living.”

“Is practice over for today, then?” Rosé asks. Her skin is gleaming with sweat and she looks thoroughly exhausted. The others are exactly the same, all collapsed on the floor in a poor attempt at a circle. Even Jungkook, who loves working out – he’s on a couple sport teams at school and used to do more as extracurricular, until school and gaming became too demanding a combo – is feeling glad that it’s over. A whole hour of martial arts practice is a bit much in one go for a group of people who’ve never properly fought before. Still, it’s necessary.

“The sparring is over, but your training isn’t,” Jaehyung explains. “You shouldn’t underestimate the power of teamwork.”

“That sounds like a line cut right out of a kids’ TV show,” Yoongi says disdainfully.

Hoseok grins. “Is this part of our training just getting to know each other better? Because I could definitely get behind that.”

“It can be whatever you want it to be,” Jaehyung answers cryptically.

“That was very unhelpful,” Jungkook comments.

Namjoon stands up from where he’s been working quietly at his computer. “Jaehyung and I need to organise some books upstairs, anyway. We’ll leave you to it.”

Rosé looks around at her teammates, her eyebrows raised. “Okay, well. What better way to do this than throw everyone into the deep end? Let’s all share our biggest secret.”

Immediately there’s resistance, but Rosé shushes them quickly.

“Teamwork is about trust, okay? I’ll start. My name is actually Roseanne.”

“Seriously?” Jungkook frowns, disgruntled. “Your biggest secret is that your name has a different second syllable? That’s it?”

Rosé shrugs. “Why, what’s yours?”

Jungkook opens his mouth, then hesitates. _I’m in love with my best friend._ Nope, no way he’s admitting that. Definitely not today, definitely not to this lot. “I’m only taking Computer Science so I can learn how to make video games,” he confesses.

Hoseok frowns. “Okay, that might be true, but it’s definitely not your biggest secret. You looked like you were about to say something else and then stopped.”

“It’s personal, okay?” Jungkook mutters. “Maybe some other time.”

“We’ve got to take this seriously,” Rosé sighs. “How are we meant to trust each other as a team if we don’t trust each other with anything?”

“It’s not like you’re being truthful either,” Yoongi points out. “We both know you were christened as Chaeyoung but you thought your English name would make you seem edgier after moving here.”

“What’s so edgy about an Asian person having an English name?” Lisa questions, bewildered. “I do too.”

“Then you’re also edgy,” Yoongi tells her.

Lisa blinks, confusion spreading across her features which quickly transforms into a light blush. “Um. Okay?”

“Plus you act as if you weren’t born in Korea,” Yoongi continues casually, turning back to Rosé, “clinging onto that half-New Zealand half-Australian accent like it’s your only character trait.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Rosé snaps, blushing furiously out of embarrassment. “Do you want me to expose your big fat crush, too?” she taunts him, watching as Yoongi’s face pales. “Ha! Not so hard now, are you?”

“Guys, stop,” Jungkook cuts in. “For this to work, we have to work as a team. Can you at least try to get along?” Yoongi glowers at him and Jungkook feels himself grimace. He doesn’t know where his bravery has come from – maybe it’s the pressure of knowing he’s supposed to be the leader here – but the bravery’s definitely wavering the longer Yoongi looks at him like that.

“How do you two know so much about each other, anyway?” Hoseok asks, puzzled.

“Ah, that’s probably her biggest secret of all,” Yoongi says calmly. “I’m her brother.”

There’s a stunned silence. Then the conversation moves on.

“Okay, well, I’m not exactly the type for secrets, so I think my biggest one has to be the fact that I’m a Power Ranger,” Hoseok volunteers. “Which obviously you all know. Who’s next?”

Jungkook looks around indignantly. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Rosé has a _secret brother_ and no one even cares? Does nobody else realise how _weird_ that is?”

“There are weirder things to happen this week,” Lisa points out.

“What’s your biggest secret?” Rosé asks Lisa curiously. “You’re so quiet, you must have tons of them, right?”

Lisa ponders for a second. “I don’t know, really,” she admits. “I don’t talk to many people; I just tend to keep to myself. But I think I have to go with Hoseok here. My biggest secret right now is being a Ranger.”

Jungkook feels his mood dampen a little. He knows already, secrecy is part of the job. It’s been made clear from the get-go. This conversation does nothing except emphasise it further. But still, how he would love to tell Taehyung about all this.

***

“How’s the design coming along?” Sungjin asks his cousin, peering over her shoulder.

Jennie grins, eyes still focused on her paper and pen. “Almost done. I’m just adding the final touches.”

“Will it work this time?” Jisoo asks excitedly.

“It has to,” Sungjin says determinedly. “I’m not having another failure,” he adds, looking pointedly at Jennie.

Jennie simply laughs. “It’s not my fault the monster machine was broken. Okay, so the other week it _was_ my fault,” she relents, “but how was I supposed to know I hadn’t joined up all the lines properly?” The first monster she created came out of the machine half-complete, because its limbs weren’t quite attached to the rest of its body. It fell apart almost as soon as it started to walk.

Jisoo nods sombrely. “Mr Wobbly will be missed.”

Sungjin sighs. “Why did I ever recruit you two?”

“Because we’re _family_ ,” Jisoo explains exasperatedly.

“Besides, me and Jisoo do all the work here,” Jennie points out. “You really think you’d have got anywhere without us?”

Sungjin’s eye twitches, something his cousins have noticed happens when he gets annoyed, but he has no leg to stand on here. They all know the only reason Sungjin is ‘in charge’ is because he’s older and that apparently gives him the right to boss them around. It’s been like that ever since they were young, and they always looked up to him so much that they never questioned it. They didn’t even question it when he decided to run away from home and take Jennie and Jisoo with him – the three of them have been inseparable ever since. (Partly because they all live on the same spaceship, and trying to leave would mean certain death… But it’s mainly because of their strong family bond.)

“Anyway, last week’s monster is a success,” Jennie reminds them. “Stormcloud has wreaked havoc in that city and doesn’t show any sign of stopping anytime soon.”

Jisoo hums. “Where is Stormcloud now? We brought him back to the spaceship, right?”

“Stormcloud in one of the monster cells,” Sungjin says, strolling over to the edge of the room to ensure that the door’s closed properly. “I’m not letting him out again until we have a backup monster ready for the next fight.”

“I thought Stormcloud was just an experiment, to test our enemies’ strength so we knew what we were up against?” Jisoo frowns. “You said you didn’t mind if he got destroyed.”

“Just as well the walls are thick here, or he’d be coming out to destroy _you_ right this second,” Jennie points out, taking a short break from shading in her drawing to glare at Jisoo pointedly.

Sungjin breathes in deep, then exhales again. (His cousins are spectacularly annoying, although he’s always been easy to irritate.) “Now that 5 of the Mystic Jewels are engaged, we need to be stronger, think quicker, and most importantly _not be complacent._ ”

He grits his teeth as he talks, his words coming out choppy and frustrated, and Jisoo grimaces at the sight.

“We won’t know who those 5 fighters are until they respond to our attack. They might be useless, for all we know, but I don’t want to give them any time to learn and improve while we’re working on the next monster. We need to keep them coming – and fast. Make them more and more dangerous each time.”

“This one isn’t going to be more dangerous than the last,” Jennie says doubtfully. “Think of it as a backup monster, like something to distract people while Stormcloud does some real damage. I thought they could attack together.”

Sungjin nods slowly. “5 against 1 doesn’t seem right,” he contemplates. “We’re going to need to make it a fairer fight.”

“Exactly,” Jennie confirms. “Okay – done.” She puts down her pen, unable to hide her pride as she shows Jisoo her newest creation, pointing out its characteristics. “This one is going to be the best companion for Stormcloud! All metal, slim for fast movement and space optimisation, plus very resilient to damage. It might get stunned easily after being hit, but it’ll basically never be destroyed. Oh, also,” she says excitedly as she beckons Sungjin closer, “its brain and hands have an inbuilt function to make it a better mechanic, so if anything goes wrong on the ship again, we can fix it.”

Sungjin raises an eyebrow. “This seems like the sort of monster that would be worth duplicating.”

Jennie tucks her hair behind her ear, a sign to those that know her that she’s satisfied with the work she’s done. “If it comes out of the machine as expected, I’ll draw more.”

“Jen, you didn’t draw a mouth,” Jisoo points out.

Jennie shrugs. “They don’t need to speak. We can only give each monster so many features, remember; the machine has a limit. This monster is a mechanic, a sidekick and a fighter, made to terrorise people on Earth.”

“And what’s scarier to humans than something that can’t speak their language at all?” Sungjin smirks.

Jisoo smiles excitedly. “I’m christening him Blink!”

Sungjin nods at them, satisfied. “Good work. Now put it in the machine.”

Jennie rushes over to their monster-making machine and nods to Jisoo, who presses the ‘on’ switch. The machine whirrs to life, creating a buzz of electricity inside all the machinery. Jennie slowly feeds her drawing into the scanner, which sucks it up like how a printer sucks up paper. After a couple seconds, the piece of paper comes out on the other side of the machine, right next to where Jisoo is standing.

“Did it work?” Jisoo asks, confused.

And then a gigantic monster steps out of the machine – a life-size version of Jennie’s drawing. This time, when the monster steps forward, he doesn’t fall apart, but simply bows in Sungjin’s direction.

“Welcome, Blink,” Sungjin says, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Blink blinks back.

“Make us a few more like this one, Jen, and we’ll have ourselves a whole family of monsters,” Jisoo grins.

***

A few days later, Jungkook has hardly reached the library when his communicator starts beeping. He looks at it in surprise, briefly wondering if there’s an alarm clock function he somehow missed – it’s 4:58pm. No alarm set, and he’s definitely not late for anything, but – oh _shit_. A monster is in the city, only a few streets down from here. Jungkook makes eye contact with Lisa across the room, who warily unpins her _Volunteer: Lisa_ badge. “Convenient timing, I guess?” she offers.

Jungkook grunts. “Guess it could be worse.” He feels thoroughly unprepared for whatever’s about to happen – but then again, that’s been his perspective throughout this whole experience so far. He supposes bluffing his way through it a little longer won’t do any harm.

Namjoon appears from a back room and looks at them uncertainly. “Normally I’d scold you for not rushing off to the location specified on the clock face right away,” he begins, “but I’m glad I caught you in time. Your weapons are ready.”

“We have weapons?” Lisa asks curiously. “Uh… but where do we keep them?”

Namjoon is already stepping closer to tap a few buttons on her communicator. “Once I calibrate them together, it should be stored in _here_.” He grins up at her, the smile something between reassurance and pride. “We caught wind of a teleportation method floating around. Sadly we haven’t been able to make it work for living beings, but for small objects it should do the trick… _There._ ” He looks at Lisa expectantly. “Go on, try it.”

Lisa looks down at her watch in confusion. “Am I meant to see something new here?”

“Oh, shit,” Namjoon says in realisation. “You can only access the weapons after you’ve morphed – I forgot.” He winces. “I’m really delaying you both now. Jungkook, quick, come here…”

Jungkook hurries over and lets Namjoon calibrate his weapon. “The others didn’t turn up yet, did they?” Jungkook asks Lisa.

Lisa shakes her head. “They’re probably already fighting. We should get going.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook agrees. He looks at Namjoon cautiously as he finalises the weapon calibration process. “What sort of button am I looking for?”

“It should be obvious,” Namjoon replies, which is the opposite of reassuring, really, but they’re on a tight schedule. “The others will have to make do without weapons for now. Go, go – the world’s counting on you!” he calls after them as they leave the library.

“I can’t believe we’re about to go into a real fight,” Lisa mumbles as they start running.

Jungkook grimaces in response. He can only hope that they won’t get obliterated before they’re able to fight back.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the street where the monster has arrived – or _monsters_ , it turns out. “Where were you,” Yoongi shouts as he kicks at a strange metallic thing. He and the other two are already morphed. “There are, like, 8 of these things and only 3 of us.”

“Sorry, we got held up,” Lisa says awkwardly. “Oh God, do we really have to fight these things?” she whimpers under her breath.

“I’m sure one will approach you soon enough,” Jungkook says encouragingly. “It won’t feel so difficult when it’s self-defence.” His words definitely hold some truth, a couple metal statues bouncing over seconds later and launching kicks at the pair of them. Thankfully the monsters aren’t as strong as they look, and the only disadvantage the Rangers have is that they’re outnumbered.

“Any clue what this is?” Jungkook calls to his teammates across the street, confused even as he punches two monsters square in the face at the same time. “I thought it would be the storm one again.”

As if Jungkook’s words summoned him, the monster appears with a flash of lightning. “Good job, Blinks,” the monster cackles, “wearing them down before they can even attempt to defeat me.”

“Is it me or does it get less menacing when it talks?” Yoongi ponders. Jungkook snorts and the monster flounders.

“My name is Stormcloud,” he thunders, “and you shall treat me with _respect._ Or _die._ ”

“Oh shit,” Jungkook mutters as he dodges a raindrop fired in his direction. “Uh – what the hell was that?”

“I don’t think we want to know,” Hoseok replies, his high-pitched panic audible despite his suit’s voice-changing feature.

“I think it’s time we morph too,” Lisa comments.

Jungkook grimaces. “No kidding. Ready?”

“Ready.”

They click their buttons at the same time and the brightly-coloured spandex covers their bodies instantly. “We really need a slogan,” Jungkook says offhandedly as he looks down at his red gloves. “That felt so empty.”

“Hoseok keeps trying to make ‘flower up’ happen,” Rosé complains in response, before directing a kick in Stormcloud’s face.

The fight continues like that, each Ranger trying to approach the monster and not getting particularly far. Its punches and kicks leave them winded; not to mention how it feels like they’re playing a game of dodgeball from hell, trying to avoid the raindrops that keep shooting from Stormcloud’s hands. But it isn’t until one of the raindrops makes contact with the Yellow Ranger that they realise just how dangerous this mission really is.

“It just tasered Lisa with a raindrop!” Rosé yells. She drops her voice. “I can’t believe that’s a real thing I just said.”

“Lisa, you okay?” Jungkook asks urgently.

“She can’t talk, you moron!” Yoongi shouts.

Jungkook has to admit, it makes sense to shout so they can be heard over the din of a rapidly worsening storm, especially mid-fight, but it does feel a little like everyone’s shouting _at_ him.

A few more kicks and punches don’t see the monster any worse off, and even a combo move that Hoseok and Jungkook have been practising for the past couple days doesn’t cause much damage. They need a new technique – and suddenly Jungkook remembers Namjoon’s words from earlier. He turns to his watch and taps it, not knowing what he’s looking for but hoping for the best. A few pictures appear on screen, one of which looks like a dagger.

That’ll do.

He taps the watch again and two daggers appear in his hand. “That’s a bit more like it,” he grins, throwing both the daggers into Stormcloud’s back while the monster’s preoccupied with the others.

Sparks fly out of the monster and Jungkook cheers. Finally, Stormcloud’s starting to lose energy. Not long to go now…

“I think we’re almost there,” Hoseok pants, delivering a spinning kick. Jungkook silently agrees; it’s like he can see the monster’s health bar in his mind, gradually reducing until it will disappear to nothing. It’s the thought that’s keeping him going.

“Are these yours?” Yoongi asks Jungkook, running up behind Stormcloud while the monster’s distracted with Hoseok and Rosé. He pulls them out of Stormcloud’s back and throws them back to Jungkook. Jungkook clenches the daggers tightly in his hands and decides to go for a close-up fighting approach this time.

After not too long, Lisa groans from the ground and Rosé rushes over. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. What just _happened?”_

Rosé holds out a hand and helps her up. “You got tasered. On the bright side, Jungkook found some daggers somewhere, and now the monster’s pretty much overpowered,” she says conversationally.

Lisa gasps. “The weapons!” she realises, turning to her watch as she stands up determinedly. Moments later, a sword appears in her hand, shaped like a sunflower. She holds on tight to the hilt, shaped like a sunflower head, giving the sunflower stem an experimental wave. “Looks dangerous, right?”

“Yeah,” Rosé grins. “Go get him, get your revenge.”

So Lisa rushes towards Stormcloud, who’s preoccupied trying to fight off Yoongi and Hoseok while defending himself against Jungkook’s daggers. Rosé watches in amazement as Lisa delivers a blow right to the monster’s head.

They all step back as sparks explode from the monster’s body. Then it explodes in a burst of fire.

“That was _awesome,_ ” Rosé whispers to herself.

They only just have time to regroup and start discussing their new weapons, Lisa showing off her sword to Yoongi while Jungkook gives Rosé and Hoseok a dagger each, before a big clap of thunder sounds, followed quickly by a lightning strike that leaves them falling to the floor. The five Rangers scatter to the edges of the street, Jungkook, Rosé and Hoseok taking cover under the canopy of a nearby building. Yoongi and Lisa are trapped on the other side of the street, next to a charity shop.

Before anyone has time to ask what’s going on, Stormcloud reappears right where the lightning strike landed, rapidly growing until he’s at least double the height of any nearby building. He stomps a foot and the ground beneath them shakes.

Yoongi turns around. “Jungkook, what do we do?” he shouts.

Jungkook stares back in panic. “I don’t know!”

“You’re the _leader_ –”

“I didn’t sign up for this!”

“None of us did,” Rosé yells. “But we have to do _something_!”

“I can’t believe I forgot about this bit from the films,” Hoseok says, surprisingly calm. He turns on the communicator function on his watch. “Namjoon, any help? Have we got Zords?”

“You certainly have,” Namjoon responds. “I’m sending them over now.”

Lisa looks at her communicator in bewilderment, then back up at her fellow Rangers. “What are Zords?” she shouts across the street.

“You’ll see!” Hoseok grins.

Jungkook sighs loudly as he looks around, hoping for some sort of sign. It isn’t much use; the strong winds are blowing his hair around so much that he can hardly see. Still, he racks his brain for an explanation. There were no Zords in the video game – but then again, there were no super-sized monsters in the video game. It’s safe to say that he has no clue what’s going on. He has a strong urge to put his head in his hands, but he definitely can’t signal to his teammates that he’s feeling hopeless, so he settles for staring at the ground.

Every single second that monster is still walking around the city is a second wasted. They need to get a hold of the situation fast. But _how?_

“I’m feeling pretty out of my depth right now,” Rosé says after a few moments, her voice sounding increasingly panicked as the sentence continues. “Does someone want to tell me why there are giant machines charging towards us?”

Jungkook looks up, only to see the most ridiculous sight he’s ever laid eyes on. A gigantic iris-shaped machine is hopping over to them, tailed by a giant metal sunflower of a similar form. They’re a silver-grey metal, with splashes of faded yellow and blue respectively. It reminds Jungkook a little of the Transformers, but, well… much stupider.

“They’re fighting machines made of the strongest metals Earth has to offer, and they’re here to help you,” Namjoon says through the communicator. “Rosé and Yoongi, your Zords still need a bit of touching up and finessing, so this one’s on the rest of you. You have to trust your flower – only then can you jump inside the Zord and access the controllers.”

Jungkook stares at his communicator, outraged. “ _Trust_ my flower? What the fuck does that mean? How can you _trust_ a –” He blinks, watching in astonishment as Lisa flies into the air and drops into the stem of the sunflower fighting machine.

“Come on, Jungkook,” Hoseok smiles, surprisingly cheerful considering the circumstances. “Have a bit of self-belief.” Then he turns to the blue iris machine and soars over to it, falling right into its middle.

Jungkook stares after him in befuddlement.

Rosé is speaking into the communicator again – “Are you two inside?”

“You betcha!” Hoseok replies…

…from the depths of a flower-shaped fighting machine. Okay then.

“Ha! Take that!” Lisa yells gleefully, her spiky flower petals poking one of the bubbles on Stormcloud’s gigantic metallic body and – somehow – deflating it.

“Aren’t those things made of metal? Is this even scientifically possible?” Jungkook asks, but no one’s listening.

“This might be working okay for now,” Hoseok says as his Iris Zord backs Lisa up, “but I think we’ll get stronger if we combine our Zords. Jungkook, you need to get in here.”

Jungkook turns to Rosé hopelessly. “How do I trust a _rose_?”

Rosé stares back, just as clueless. “I do believe in roses, I do, I do?” she suggests.

Jungkook sighs, then closes his eyes. He chants a few self-belief mantras inside his head: _I believe that I will end up in the rose-shaped machine and help defeat the monster Stormcloud. I believe that all of this is really happening to me. I believe that this is a situation I have some sort of control over._

“It isn’t working,” Jungkook says frustratedly, opening his eyes again in frustration. The rain is soaking him to the bone and the monster is putting up a good fight against Hoseok and Lisa – he needs this to work.

“Maybe your rose can tell you’re being sarcastic,” Rosé says helpfully.

Jungkook groans. “This whole thing is so fucking stupid –”

“That’s your problem!” Yoongi shouts across at him. “Forget how mad you are at the world and just deal with it! There are other things to worry about right now. _Trust the rose!_ ”

If anyone can make him do something against his will, apparently it’s Min Yoongi.

Jungkook feels a burning frustration take over him as Yoongi’s words hit him, because he didn’t _ask_ for any of this – but it’s quickly replaced by raw determination. The only way to make this situation go away is to deal with it. Destroy the monster, then go home.

If he treats this like a boss level in Super Mario Bros., it even makes sense why the monster is super-sized.

Before he knows it, he’s floating in the air, and Jungkook looks around in shock as he’s catapulted into the rose machine within milliseconds.

“Finally,” Lisa cheers, while Hoseok says, “Good job, Jungkook!”

Jungkook looks down at the control panel in front of him, _finally_ feeling like he’s in his element. “Right, how do these controls work?” he mutters to himself.

The next thing he knows, his world is tilting on its axis as the rose stem jumps into the air and delivers a kick right in Stormcloud’s face. (If it can be called a ‘kick’ when it’s delivered by a flower stem rather than a foot.)

He hears Hoseok wince through the speakers in front of him, and he registers in the back of his mind that this must be an elevated form of their communicator watches. “That’s gotta hurt,” Hoseok laughs a second later. The pride is evident in his voice.

Jungkook breathes out, for what feels like the first time all afternoon. “We’ve got this,” he tells his teammates. “This monster is practically putty in our hands.”

“Alright, Mr Cocky,” Rosé says from down on the ground. “You only just got there, you know. Most of that damage wasn’t done by you.”

Jungkook laughs as he delivers another blow to Stormcloud’s stomach, Lisa jabbing the monster in the back straight after. “I didn’t realise you could still hear me.”

“This thing has inbuilt communicators,” Hoseok says. “Whenever one of us is in a Zord, the rest of us will know what’s going on.”

“Probably useful because otherwise, one person could end up fighting a huge monster all on their own,” Yoongi comments nonchalantly.

Hoseok hums. “Probably.”

Stormcloud stumbles after a particularly harsh blow, and Lisa chuckles. “This is fun!” she announces. “Maybe I should take up gaming.”

Jungkook snorts. “Gaming is harder than it looks,” he responds without thinking.

“Harder than fighting actual monsters?” Yoongi deadpans.

Jungkook stays silent. Despite Rosé’s claims that Yoongi’s harmless, he still feels a little afraid to talk back to him.

“Okay, I think it’s time,” Hoseok says. “Do you all see the big button on the right-hand side, with the three primary colours?”

“I got it,” Lisa replies.

“Same,” Jungkook says. He punches Stormcloud again, wanting to make sure that they don’t get attacked too severely while they’re trying to figure out this aspect of the Zord combination process. “Do we just have to press it?”

“Worth a try!” Hoseok replies. “On three…”

After the countdown, Jungkook presses the button, and he half-expects nothing to happen – after today, could anything really be so simple? But, to his pleasant surprise, he feels his Rose Zord start to split in half, before the metal shifts with a loud squeaking, clanking noise. “Shit, who thought this was a good idea,” he mutters to himself as he abandons the controls in favour of covering his ears.

“Someone should tell Namjoon the parts on these Zords need to be oiled too,” Lisa agrees, evidently uncomfortable.

“Just one more second…” Hoseok says slowly. Then Jungkook feels a huge gust of wind, looking to the side to find that the walls of the Zord have opened up completely, and for one horrible moment he thinks that the contraption has malfunctioned and he’s about to plummet to his death.

Then Hoseok appears beside him.

“Hey, old friend!” he grins.

“How are you so casual about this?” Jungkook replies, astonished. It seems to be his only emotion today.

Hoseok laughs. “I’ve seen it in the movies. Hey, Lisa!”

“Hi there!” she grins back, appearing on Jungkook’s other side. “This is insane,” she says in wonder. The control panel before them shifts into something much bigger and complex. “Does this mean that we all control it together, now?”

“What do we even look like?” Jungkook wonders.

“You look like some gigantic hybrid super-flower,” Rosé tells them, seeming to doubt her words as she says them. “It’s a bit of a fusion, really.”

“It looks awesome,” Yoongi adds. “You can definitely take down Stormcloud now. Quick – Hoseok, move the right leg.”

“Good spot!” Hoseok says as he kicks forward, stopping the monster before it can get any closer to them. “I just control the right-hand side, then?”

Lisa punches out with their hybrid flower Zord’s left arm. “If I’m on the left and Hoseok’s on the right, what does Jungkook have?”

“The brains,” Jungkook responds without thinking. He regrets it a little as soon as Rosé starts laughing, and Lisa glances his way before turning forwards again. Their faces are all still covered by their helmets, but Jungkook decides that the look is almost definitely judgemental.

“Press something and see what happens,” Hoseok suggests.

So Jungkook hits one of the controls at random and watches in bewilderment as the front of the Zord opens up, the chest of their hybrid Zord turning into some sort of balcony so that the three Rangers can see directly in front of them.

“What’s the point of this?” Jungkook asks, understandably flustered.

“We can still use our individual weapons against the monster,” Lisa realises. Then she looks at the sunflower sword in her scabbard. “Huh. You’re right, that’s not useful.”

“I’ll try the daggers,” Jungkook decides. He throws them at Stormcloud and they make contact, but then they fall pitifully to the floor. Apparently they’re too small to do much damage. “I guess it was just a misclick?” he suggests moments after.

“The control wouldn’t be there for a reason,” Hoseok ponders. But then sparks start flying inside where the Rangers are stood, and he has second thoughts. “You’re right. Close it, now.”

Jungkook taps the button again, the wall in front of them reappearing, complete with a screen that shows what’s happening in front of them.

“Wouldn’t a window have been more eco-friendly?” Lisa wonders.

“Jungkook, hit another control,” Hoseok orders.

Jungkook shakes his head tiredly, thinking that no good can come from this. But he listens anyway, tapping one that looks a little like a fireball. Maybe they’ll have better luck with this one.

Nope. Definitely not.

The three of them scream as they feel the energy getting sucked out of them, and Jungkook thinks it’s the most painful thing he’s ever experienced since he broke his arm as a kid. But then an actual _human-sized fireball_ appears in front of them and Jungkook stumbles backwards in panic. “What the _fuck –_ that’s a fire hazard –”

“It’s not a fire hazard if it’s literally the fire itself,” Hoseok points out.

“Open the vent!” Lisa screeches.

Jungkook lunges forward and hits the first button again, the Zord’s chest opening up, and the fireball surges forward with a power that Jungkook never could have predicted.

Within seconds, Stormcloud is nothing but an explosion of smoke and dust.

They all watch the scene in a strange combination of pride and horror. Then they hear Yoongi and Rosé’s voices filtering through the speakers. “You did it!” they cheer triumphantly.

“That was incredible!” Rosé says appreciatively.

“Really impressive,” Yoongi agrees.

Jungkook lets out an exhausted breath. He feels just about ready to collapse to the floor.

“What was that fireball all about?” Lisa asks quietly.

“I don’t know,” Jungkook says, “but I don’t want to do that again anytime soon if we can help it.”

Hoseok nods. “I’m glad it got rid of the monster, though. I feel like it took all of the power from me… we should keep that one as a last resort.”

“You guys coming back down?” Rosé asks.

Jungkook looks at his teammates for guidance. “How do we get out of this thing? Are we supposed to _stop_ trusting the hybrid flower, or something?”

Lisa laughs. Apparently she doesn’t realise it isn’t a joke.

“We can disassemble first,” Hoseok says. “Let’s try pressing the primary-coloured button again? Then hopefully we can just jump out of our flowers the same way we jumped in.”

“This whole thing is –” Jungkook starts.

“Don’t,” Lisa cuts in, stopping him before he can say _ridiculous_. “Otherwise you’ll get ejected.”

Jungkook turns to her in vague panic to find her laughing at him.

“Hurry up,” Yoongi’s voice says irritably over the speakers. “We should get back to the base.”

***

Soon enough, they’re back in headquarters – the library basement looks a lot more comforting to Jungkook than it ever did before. He trusts that it’s hidden safely enough that they couldn’t be found here. (After fighting the Blinks in the open air, no suits on, Jungkook worries that his life has just become exponentially more complicated. Whoever this enemy is now knows the Rangers’ identities.)

“Good job out there!” Namjoon cheers excitedly, as Jaehyung chimes in with, “You look exhausted.”

“We feel it,” Hoseok agrees grimly. “Do you want to tell us what that fireball was all about?”

Namjoon nods. “It’s actually called an Energy Sphere. And you’re right, it’s intended for only the most serious occasions, as a last resort.”

“Well it’s not as if anyone explained the controls to us,” Jungkook says, feeling a bit bitter. Somehow he feels like he’s being told off for engaging the Energy Sphere – but he didn’t even know what the button _did_.

“I didn’t even know what a Zord was,” Lisa says hesitantly.

“I’m sorry we didn’t explain the Zords sufficiently,” Jaehyung cuts in. “We didn’t think you’d have to use them so soon.”

“What do you mean?” Yoongi questions. “You must have known the monster would get bigger after it was defeated, otherwise you wouldn’t have manufactured the Zords in the first place.”

Jungkook stares at Jaehyung and Namjoon, emotionless. “You thought we were going to fail.”

Namjoon smiles awkwardly. “Not fail, exactly. But we didn’t exactly expect you to succeed on your first try.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes. “You tell us to save the world and then send us out there to our own doom. Fantastic.”

Jungkook doesn’t say a word. For once he agrees.

Jaehyung looks a little guilty – it’s the first time Jungkook’s seen an emotion displayed so clearly on his face. “We only had so much time to prepare and preferred not to overload you with information…” He hesitates. “We didn’t want to overwhelm you?” he attempts.

Lisa raises an eyebrow. “I’d say that being told you have to save the world from evil forces is overwhelming enough.”

Rosé nods. “Neglecting to tell us how to actually _defeat_ those evil forces doesn’t exactly help to calm us down,” she points out.

“I understand this job is challenging,” Jaehyung replies. “Not anyone can do it, and the fact that you’ve already defeated one monster with hardly any training reaffirms that you’re the right people for the job. We’ll make sure to incorporate proper Zord training into your schedule,” he adds.

“That’s all we can hope for, I suppose,” Hoseok says pragmatically. “Come on, team. Let’s cheer up. We defeated a monster! We should be celebrating.”

The others smile despite themselves. It’s been an overwhelming day, there’s no getting around that, but they should definitely be proud of what they accomplished.

“What do you say we all hang out at mine and order pizza?” Hoseok continues hopefully.

“I need to get home,” Lisa says apologetically. “I have homework.”

“I should get back too,” Rosé agrees. “Rain check?”

Hoseok laughs. “Talk about that for a pun.”

Jungkook grins. Yeah, their team is a bit of an odd mix of people, but they get along okay, all considering. With time he hopes he’ll be able to call them all friends.

***

“Did you hear?!” Taehyung asks him, rushing up to him before school starts the following day.

Jungkook frowns. “Hear what?”

“The Power Rangers!” he squeaks. “They’re _real._ ”

Jungkook gapes. “Oh, that.”

Taehyung stares at him. “That’s all you have to say? ‘Oh, that’? We’ve just found out there are _real life Power Rangers_ and you don’t have anything else to say?”

Jungkook shrugs, trying to play it cool. “I guess I’m still in shock.”

Taehyung groans. “You can say that again. I’m just offended they didn’t ask me to be part of the team. I would’ve been a _great_ Ranger.”

Jungkook snorts. “Sure. You keep telling yourself that.”

“I’m so fucking _pumped,_ ” Taehyung continues. “Real-life saviours, in the same city as us. I’m inspired. What do you say we play Power Rangers: Unstoppable Force tonight?”

Jungkook hesitates. He’d honestly rather play something else, but then he sees the look in Taehyung’s eyes and he can’t say no. “Sure.” His eyes widen. “Uh, I’m going out at 5pm though, so we can’t play for long.”

Taehyung eyes him curiously, then shrugs it off. “Okay, cool. Less time for you to complain at me for beating your ass.”

“You do know we’re meant to play as a team, right?” Jungkook says flatly. Really, he doesn’t know why he bothers.

Taehyung waves a hand dismissively. “Technicalities.”

Jungkook snorts. Yep, Taehyung would definitely be a terrible addition to the team. Instinctively, he checks his communicator to see if there are any new messages from his teammates. He bets they’re going to have to bluff their way through lot of these conversations today.

“I meant to ask before, is that a new watch?” Taehyung asks, gesturing to Jungkook’s wrist. “I swear you never used to wear watches before.”

“Oh, yeah. Birthday present,” Jungkook lies easily. “My parents got offended when I didn’t start wearing it right away, so I’ve been making more of an effort.”

Taehyung grins toothily, his eyes crinkling. “Good boy Jungkookie.”

 _Good boy Jungkookie._ Well then. Jungkook stares at him in horror and wills his ears to stop reddening before someone _notices._ “Well don’t be weird about it.”

Taehyung raises an eyebrow. “I’m just saying. Mama’s boy.”

Jungkook sighs. “Whatever.”

He winces as someone slaps a hand on his shoulder – Changgu’s arrived. He stands in between Jungkook and Taehyung, slapping their shoulders again in emphasis as he opens the conversation with “Did you hear about the Power Rangers?! We were actually _right_.”

Jungkook braces himself for a long day ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can’t say it’s power rangers without an excessively long fight scene, right? XD
> 
> in other news I learnt the word scabbard today
> 
> btw does anyone remember The Impossible Quiz? iconic
> 
> thank you for reading!!


	3. forget me not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the team is compromised when Hoseok forgets that he’s a Ranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve accidentally written a moralising chapter about friendship?
> 
> ft. all the ranger weapons and more secret identity shenanigans :D this one’s more focused on Hoseok, so we’ll see Jimin again and also meet Seokjin! I’m so excited

“Time for the rest of you to meet your weapons!” Namjoon says excitedly as he walks in with a pile of weapons clutched in his arms, interrupting the group’s endurance training.

“Thank God, a break,” Rosé mutters, wiping the sweat off her forehead as she slows to a jog.

“Not a break,” Jaehyung corrects her. “Weapon training.”

“Anything’s a break after this,” Yoongi pants. They’ve been doing laps of the basement for what feels like hours now. (Although it’s only been 20 minutes. In Yoongi’s defence, it is a comparatively small room.)

“Actually, Jaehyung, it _is_ a break. We’re running late and they still need to investigate their flowers’ characteristics, remember?”

Jaehyung nods curtly in reply and turns back to the surveillance cameras they recently ordered. Jaehyung has deemed it highly possible that their enemy has surveillance on the city and so could start to track the Rangers’ whereabouts – they need to be prepared in case anyone stumbles across the base. As long as they can keep tabs on people coming in and out, keeping their headquarters a secret should be a lot easier.

“Did you upset him?” Rosé asks in astonishment, staring at Jaehyung’s back as he untangles various cables.

“Nah, we go way back,” Namjoon says easily as he dumps the weapons on the table. “He’s technically the boss but I’m more of a partner than a subordinate.”

“I heard that,” Jaehyung says, still facing away from them.

Namjoon chuckles awkwardly, the slightest blush spreading to his cheeks. He picks up the daggers Jungkook used in their last fight. “Jungkook, you’re already acquainted with your Thorn Daggers…” he says as he passes them over.

“Thorn Daggers?” Jungkook says in vague surprise. Now that he looks at them more closely, they do remind him of the thorns you find on roses. Except super-size. But things being super-size probably shouldn’t bother Jungkook all too much if he’s going to survive the next few monster attacks, he thinks.

“Their official name,” Namjoon grins in reply. He passes Lisa her weapon next.

“What’s my sunflower sword called?” she asks eagerly.

“It’s called a Sunflower Sword,” Namjoon replies, seeming almost embarrassed. “I liked the alliteration.”

“It’s _awesome_ ,” Lisa breathes, inspecting the sword more closely now that they’re not mid-battle and she actually has the time to appreciate it.

Namjoon passes round the rest of the weapons, handing over Rosé’s last with a proud, “Here’s your Spider Flower Whip!”

“Does it matter so much what it’s called?” Rosé asks curiously.

Namjoon smiles awkwardly. “Not so much, I suppose. But I spent a while naming them.”

Hoseok smiles at Namjoon reassuringly. “The names are great. Should we do it like in the films, where we shout the name of the weapon as we use it?”

“I wouldn’t shout before you’ve used it,” Namjoon ponders. “That could give away your attack and a split-second really makes a big difference in battle. But feel free to shout the name of the attack after it’s worked.”

“That seems a little anticlimactic, don’t you think?” Rosé frowns. “Imagine I destroy a monster with my Spider Flower Whip, the monster bursts into flames, and after our obligatory self-important poses which Hoseok has informed me we have to strike next time, I randomly shout ‘Spider Flower Whip’ into the distance.”

“The way you phrased that, it really does seem a bit extra,” Hoseok agrees contemplatively.

Jungkook snorts. “You can say it after the whip’s hit – you don’t have to wait for the monster to be destroyed. Imagine that, everyone tallying up the different attacks they’ve used and then just listing them while the monster burns to a crisp.”

“This is getting very morbid,” Lisa comments.

“Again, monsters are not living creatures,” Yoongi responds.

Lisa sighs. “Are we going to talk more about our fighting vocabulary or are we actually going to figure out our flower characteristics?” she says pointedly, gesturing to the book now lying open by her feet, then the pile of other books at her side. “I didn’t bring these over for nothing.”

“Lisa has a point,” Jungkook says, albeit a little reluctantly. He’d love to admire their weapons for a bit longer and maybe practise sparring with them. “We need to know where our strengths lie if we want to be on top form for the next monster.”

“Where did you find all these books?” Hoseok asks as he settles down on the floor next to Lisa. He takes one book off the pile next to her.

“There were a couple in the library upstairs, but the other five were at my grandmother’s house,” Lisa explains. “She’s really into gardening so I go there whenever I can to help her out. She said it was fine for me to borrow a few books.”

“You’re into gardening?” Rosé asks in surprise. When she sees Lisa look at her defensively, Rosé shrugs. “No offence, but I thought gardening was for old people.”

“Offence taken,” Lisa replies.

Jungkook snickers at the response. “I’m glad you’re into gardening, Lisa. It gives us a major head start on all this flower research.”

Lisa nods, pleased. “I’m glad we all know which flowers we’re connected to. It makes the research aspect of the task a lot simpler. If you flick to the back, there’ll be an index. When you find one of the five flowers in our team, go to that page and read whatever you can on it. A couple of the books are more personality-based so they may be the most useful, but I think learning any characteristics of the flowers could be helpful to us.”

“You can tell she works in a library,” Rosé mumbles to Jungkook, who nods. She picks up a book and starts flicking through, unsurprisingly finding some information on roses very quickly. “Roses need to be fed regularly,” she says factually. She looks at Jungkook. “Makes sense.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow. “You’re not wrong.” He also grabs a book from the pile, the task suddenly seeming much more interesting to him now. If they can make jokes out of it, maybe the time will pass quicker. “What was your flower called again, Yoongi?” Jungkook asks as he starts rifling through the index.

“Azalea,” he responds.

Hoseok snorts. “As in Iggy?”

“Are you going to stop cracking jokes any time soon?” Yoongi says flatly.

“Of course not,” Hoseok replies seriously. “It’s who I am. I’m bubbly and fun and excitable.”

“And full of self-praise,” Rosé says under her breath.

“You also need at least 6 hours of sunshine a day,” Lisa adds, reading from the book in front of her. “Do you think that’s why you have so much energy?” she asks genuinely.

“I _am_ the energy,” Hoseok grins. “Energy is me.”

“Maybe the blue iris bonded to you because you’re a literal ball of sunshine,” Rosé contemplates. “You and the blue iris are the perfect match.”

“That’s so cute,” Lisa admires. “Really, I think everyone’s flower says so much about them… I believe everyone’s a flower at heart.” Her voice is conversational, a relaxed smile on her face. “And love is what makes each of us bloom.”

Rosé snorts. “I can’t tell if this comes from too much gardening or too many romance novels.”

Lisa shrugs. “Maybe a mix of both. But I said what I said. Also, there’s nothing wrong with being a romantic.”

“Huh,” Rosé says, not having expected such a reasonable response. “Touché.”

Hoseok’s attention is back on his book. “Apparently sunflowers spread rapidly and become invasive,” he reads. He looks at Lisa sombrely. “I have been warned.”

Yoongi raises an eyebrow. “So when Lisa finds her match, the one that makes her bloom, she’ll be extremely clingy. That’s what I’m taking from that.”

Lisa shrugs. “I wouldn’t know; I’ve never had a relationship.”

“Really?” Hoseok asks in surprise. “But you’re so friendly and nice.”

A faint blush appears on Lisa’s cheeks. “I’m also shy. I don’t really talk to many people.” She pauses. “Sunflowers are sticky, though, so I guess clinginess would make sense as a related characteristic.”

“Hey, I’ve found something on the spider flower!” Jungkook says excitedly. “Notable characteristics: attractive, low maintenance…” He frowns at the page before looking up. “Are you sure this one’s you, Rosé?”

Rosé scoffs, poking him with the toe of her shoe as retaliation. (It’s the best kick she can manage after getting completely worn out during training.)

“You have spiny long green leaves, very aromatic,” Jungkook continues, ignoring the attack, “and if your seed pots are not removed you will self-seed, often aggressively.” He frowns. “I have no idea what I’m saying.”

“I don’t think that bit’s entirely relevant,” Lisa reassures him.

“The spiny leaves might explain why the Spider Flower Whip is able to work, though,” Namjoon comments.

Rosé frowns. “Have you been listening the whole time?”

“Of course,” Namjoon responds. “This is all very important for me to understand as the behind-the-scenes technician. How am I meant to work on technology in your best interests if I don’t know which qualities you’re all compatible with?”

“You mean the weapon designs aren’t just random?” Hoseok asks in surprise. “They have to be compatible?”

“Exactly,” Namjoon nods. “So for example, your Blue Iris Throwing Stars are shapes the same as the flower petals when in bloom. However, the iris is a bit of a tricky flower to work with, because its uses in human culture are generally for treating and healing rather than causing damage. That’s why the throwing stars are a good fit; unlike the rest of your weapons, throwing stars are traditionally used to distract the opponent, not for attack but for defence.”

“Wow,” Hoseok murmurs as Lisa’s eyes widen. “So if you’d designed the rest of us throwing stars, they wouldn’t work?” she enquires.

“It might work,” Namjoon contemplates, “but definitely not well. And it’s my job to give you the most compatible weapons for your flowers in order to give you the best advantage in combat.”

“What’s so special about the Azalea Honey Blasters then?” Yoongi frowns. “I have to admit I really thought you’d just run out of ideas.”

“There’s a good reason for that one,” Namjoon grins. “Anyone care to take a guess?” He looks round at them excitedly as they turn back to their books.

Jungkook’s mouth opens in awe when a few sentences on azaleas catch his attention. “It’s because azaleas are toxic, isn’t it? It says here that they contain andromedotoxins in both their leaves and nectar.”

“Including the honey that’s made from the nectar,” Lisa says in realisation. “That’s genius. If any of the rest of us had honey guns, it would do nothing.”

“Except maybe make your opponent sticky,” Namjoon acquiesces.

“It says here that azaleas and rhododendrons used to be infamous for their toxicity,” Jungkook reads interestedly. “So if you received a bouquet with those flowers in a black vase, it was a death threat.”

“What a thoughtful death threat,” Yoongi comments offhandedly.

They all stare at him.

“What?” Yoongi shrugs. “If I’m going to be murdered, at least I’ll get a nice bouquet of flowers out of it.”

“This,” Rosé states. “This is why people think you’re scary.”

***

Jungkook walks home after getting let out of Computer Science a few minutes early, Taehyung blabbering at his side. Neither of them live far from the school and they always used to walk down together with Yeeun, until she became a bratty teenager who was never ready on time. Jungkook got held up by her far too regularly and the routine fell through. But this year she’s started walking home with her friends instead, and Taehyung was quick to latch onto him again. Jungkook certainly isn’t complaining.

“You coming to mine for video games?” Taehyung asks when they reach the fork in the road where they usually split off.

Jungkook hesitates, coming to a stop on the pavement. “I guess, but I can’t stay for long. I have a lot of work,” he explains.

Taehyung frowns, but his expression clears so quickly that Jungkook wonders if he’s just imagined it. “What’s up with your work ethic these days?” he questions. “Are you actually becoming a good student?”

Jungkook snorts. “No need to sound so worried. I guess… I’m just realising that school is almost over and I kind of need a plan for the future,” he decides. He checks the time on his communicator (which honestly does double up as a smart watch) – he still has plenty of time before training starts, and it’s so tempting to go hang out with Taehyung for the next hour. But he really does have homework to do before tomorrow as well, and with their training schedule becoming more challenging each passing day, he’s not convinced he’ll have the energy to complete it when he gets home.

Taehyung scoffs as they start walking again in the direction of Taehyung’s house. “You don’t need to worry about that.” And Jungkook isn’t, not really, because – “We’ve got it all figured out. Finish high school, go to uni together, drop out when it gets too difficult and become professional gamers.”

Jungkook smiles a little. Taehyung makes it sound so easy. “And what if it doesn’t work out?”

Taehyung shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll just do something else.” He shakes his head, a smile playing at his lips as he glances at Jungkook. “Kooks, you’re thinking too much. Don’t let school stress you out, you’re better than that.”

Jungkook laughs. “Why the sudden high opinion of me?” And really, that compliment should be the first sign to Jungkook that today is a day for strange happenstances. It’s definitely weird enough on its own that Taehyung is being nice to him for a change, but Jungkook never gets to hear Taehyung’s answer because his communicator starts beeping and Jungkook makes a hasty exist with a half-hearted excuse.

He has a feeling Taehyung sees right through him, must know that he’s hiding something – but there’d also be no way for Taehyung to know _what_ he was hiding. So he’s safe for now. He just might need to work on his lie-telling a little. It’s always hard not to be open with Taehyung.

It’s even weirder when Jungkook reaches the scene of the crime to find that no monster is in the area at all. “What’s going on?” he asks in confusion when he spots the others nearby. “Did I miss it?” He ran straight here; he doesn’t know how the fight could be over already.

“I got here about 10 seconds before you did,” Hoseok says, his expression perplexed, “and this place is completely deserted.”

“You don’t think it’s a trap, do you?” Lisa asks anxiously.

Jungkook sighs. “Just in case, we’d better split off and head back home.” He looks around anxiously. “No going near the base just in case we’re being followed,” he adds in a low voice.

The others nod and they all go their separate ways.

But hands down, the weirdest thing that afternoon has to be when Jungkook gets home to find his sister looking confusedly at the TV. “If you’re hoping to learn how television technology works, I think you need to do something more proactive than just stare at it,” he recommends, his voice flat as he flops down on the sofa beside her.

Yeeun keeps her gaze on the screen, fingers poised over the remote without moving. “What’s that show I always watch?” she asks.

Jungkook frowns at her. “You mean Love Island?”

Yeeun blinks, her face showing no recognition. “Yeah, that must be it.” She starts flicking through the channels.

Jungkook rolls his eyes at his sister’s strangeness and stands up, heading to his room. He’s dealt with enough odd behaviour today as it is – he doesn’t need to add this into the mix too.

***

“Well, the monster works,” Jennie says conversationally to her sister. They’re in the centre of the spaceship, the main hub where ‘all the exciting things happen’, as Jisoo likes to say. The area where they can watch the satellite footage of the city while also analysing it through their computer software. “What now?”

Jisoo looks up from the computer where she’s been researching. “Give me a moment, Jen. I’m just finalising some things.”

Jennie raises an eyebrow. “I swear, if you’re playing Solitaire again –”

“It’s a good game,” Jisoo responds calmly. She taps another button on her computer, wanting to make sure before she confirms anything. “You know, I’m so glad you programmed those Blinks as mechanics; this machinery has never been in such good condition.”

“You’re telling me,” Jennie sniggers softly. “Can you believe how long it took to fix the monster machine by ourselves? We could’ve had a whole army by now if we’d just had a Blink with us.”

“No point in thinking of the what-ifs,” Jisoo reminds her sister with a small smile. “Progress is being made, and look where we are now.” She clicks another button and then goes, “Aha! I needed to check how the monster’s powers have affected civilians so far,” she explains, “but based on what I’ve found, it looks like the plan should go smoothly, no hitches. I say we start with the Blue Ranger and then take them out one by one.”

***

Rosé dodges another of Jungkook’s punches but then winces when his fist makes contact with her arm. She glares at the patch on her arm that Jungkook hit and Jungkook steps back, wondering if he should feel guilty. “If this _bruises_ , it better have cleared by Friday. I have a party to go to and my dress is sleeveless,” she says. There’s a worried expression on her face, like the possibility of her having to change her dress last minute is the worst thing that could happen to her.

Jungkook doesn’t even bat an eyelid, used to her attention seeking. It’s not even like he hit her that hard. “Whose party?” he says interestedly instead. They’re part of the same wider group of friends, so most of the time when there’s a party then they’ll both be invited. But Jungkook hasn’t heard anything about this one.

“Eunbi’s, it’s her birthday,” Rosé replies. She’s rubbing at her arm, still playing up to the injury, but Jungkook has other thoughts on his mind.

“How come I wasn’t invited?” he asks, perturbed.

“You know Eunbi’s felt kind of awkward around Taehyung ever since their half-arsed relationship didn’t work out,” Rosé shrugs. “And she sees you two as a package deal.”

Jungkook hums. He hopes his expression of distaste is chalked down to his lack of an invite to the party, rather than the unpleasant reminder of Taehyung’s 2-month ‘relationship’ early this year. Neither of them put much effort in, so it shouldn’t have been surprising when things didn’t work out.

Taehyung’s had a few girlfriends in his time. Not an unusual amount, but plenty more than Jungkook’s strong zero. As soon as Jungkook was old enough to know what a crush was, he knew that he had one on Taehyung. Taehyung never once questioned why Jungkook hasn’t been in a relationship before. It’s like he accepts it without question that, above everything else, Jungkook will always be there for Taehyung.

Taehyung’s first relationship wasn’t exactly the best time for Jungkook. To put it simply, it really sucked. They were both 14 at the time and Taehyung would show Jungkook pictures of the girl he liked on her Instagram in lunch breaks. They didn’t talk to each other much and it ended after a few measly weeks. After that, Taehyung spent longer than usual afterwards round Jungkook’s house, whiling the time away playing video games and talking about nothing.

Jungkook found that he wasn’t all too bothered by Taehyung dating. Even though the idea of it was painful at first, Taehyung’s only had three girlfriends so far, and none of them have been serious. Jungkook is more of a permanent fixture in Taehyung’s life than anyone else has ever been, and that’s more than enough for Jungkook.

Ultimately, he can understand why people see them as a package deal. Still, the reminder of Taehyung dating leaves a bitter taste in Jungkook’s mouth, an undercurrent of jealousy that he’s never been too good at ignoring. “Fair enough,” he tells Rosé. “Hope the party’s good.”

At that point, Jaehyung blows his whistle – a sign that it’s time for them to all change sparring partners again. Now that they’re all at a similar level for the most part, fighting each Ranger every training session has become part of their routine.

“It will be,” Rosé smiles excitedly. “I’ve already got my dress picked out and –”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Jungkook interrupts. “I don’t care.”

Rosé gives him an affronted look before turning around, presumably in search of someone who _will_ care. At the same time, Lisa stops sparring with Yoongi to step to the side of the room and grab some water before finding her next partner. Rosé approaches her immediately.

Jungkook sighs to himself and turns to look for Hoseok. “Right. Ready to fight?” he asks with a big smile. He’s Jungkook’s favourite sparring partner so far – Hoseok’s athletic too, having had dance training for many years, and he’s also not afraid to try and harm Jungkook while the others stay on the safe side. They’re the perfect combination when it comes to this, coaxing the best out of each other.

“Always,” Hoseok grins. He immediately aims a kick to Jungkook’s stomach, who dodges it easily. “You know, I think I have unlimited energy when it comes to this Ranger business,” he says conversationally as they fight.

“You don’t say,” Jungkook snickers. “But it’s just as well, really. Can you believe our luck, that monster disappearing 3 times in a row? I’m starting to think it’s all a hoax.”

Hoseok snorts. “Even the Ranger business, you mean? Damn, we’re right back to square one.”

Jungkook laughs. “You know that’s not what I meant. But aren’t you getting tired of waiting around for it to show up again, not knowing what’s going on?” Not knowing what’s going on is a pretty constant feeling in Jungkook’s life, but it’s unsettling applying that thought to something so important.

Hoseok shrugs as best he can while directing a side kick at Jungkook’s chest, who ducks just in time. “The longer it takes to turn up, the more prepared we’ll be.”

Jungkook hums. “Good point. You know, to be honest, I feel like you’re more of a leader than me at this point.”

“What?” Hoseok scoffs, immediately stilling. “No way, stop.”

“Seriously,” Jungkook shrugs. “I’m not trying to flatter you, it’s just true. You’re the mood-maker and you bring everyone together. I think you’re the reason we developed good teamwork so quickly.”

“It helps that three of you knew each other quite well already,” Hoseok says fairly.

“I didn’t really know Yoongi,” Jungkook argues. “But yeah, I guess that helps.”

“Who’s chatting and wasting training time _now?_ ” Rosé says pointedly as she walks past them.

Jungkook scoffs. “Still you.” But he still holds his arms up in front of him in defence and gestures for Hoseok to punch him.

***

“I’m telling you,” Hoseok says patiently, “you’ve been revising for days. You’ll be fine.”

Jimin sighs, seeming agitated even as he forces himself to stop playing with his hoodie strings. “It’s an important test,” he reiterates. “I need to do well.”

“And you will,” Hoseok grins. “I’m just reminding you that you work better when you’re a little more relaxed.” The school is only another street or so away and Jimin’s pace picks up as they walk.

“You’re right,” Jimin admits, although he shows no sign of slowing down. Hoseok is tempted to make a joke about it, but he’s known Jimin for long enough that his behaviour isn’t really surprising anymore. Also, Jimin’s known him long enough that all of Hoseok’s Jimin-oriented jokes are extremely overused. He should really come up with some new material.

“Oh, by the way,” Jimin says suddenly, “I need to hand back some novels to the library this week, but I really don’t have time to…” He trails off, his words replaced by a bashful grin when he sees Hoseok nodding. “Thank you so much!”

“I think I’ve been in the library lately more than you,” Hoseok points out.

Jimin smiles wider; more guiltily. “Do you mind?”

“Of course not,” Hoseok says easily. “Just remember to give me the books before we leave school today, otherwise I might forget.” They turn the corner and the school building comes into sight – but something’s wrong.

There’s a monster stood right there, near the school entrance. Probably the one that appeared and disappeared again within a few minutes the other day, the one that the Rangers ended up pegging as a false alarm when no one heard anything about it afterwards. Its blue body and muscly arms make it look more intimidating than the last monster, the baby blue cheeks contrasted with a menacing grin. But the monster isn’t even attacking, by the looks of it – it’s just stood there talking to a student who seems too scared to move.

Jimin is also frozen in shock by Hoseok’s side, and Hoseok wants to do something, wants to take care of the situation, but he can’t while there are still people around. It’s maddening, almost, feeling on edge in case a fight breaks out but knowing that he can’t really react if it does.

“Who are you?” the student shouts, voice faint.

“I’m the one who gets inside your head,” the monster cackles, clapping its four flower-petal-shaped hands together. Blue dust flies into the air at the impact and Hoseok grimaces at the sight, Jimin stood there shell-shocked next to him. “You can call me Forget-Me-Notster.”

Hoseok squints at the monster before him. “Forget-Me-Notster?” he questions, more to himself than anything else. “Like monster?”

“It’s wordplay, yes,” Forget-Me-Notster responds, turning to Hoseok as he seems almost proud that someone’s noticed the meaning behind its name. It stomps one foot determinedly. “Are you ready for your brain to get fried?” it asks challengingly. Then the monster cocks its bobbled, space-rock shaped head to the side. “I know you…”

Hoseok’s eyes widen in panic. “Jimin, _run_ ,” he instructs.

“What?” Jimin shouts back, terrified and doing a terrible job of hiding it. “Aren’t you –” A few red-hot sparks of blue smoke at their feet cut off Jimin’s next words and he hightails it to the school building.

Another blast of blue smoke follows Jimin towards the building, the monster cackling again in its creepy, mechanical voice and a realisation hits Hoseok square in the stomach. _Forget me not. ‘Are you ready for your brain to get fried?’_ Jimin may be smart, but even he isn’t immune to a monster’s powers and he _needs_ to pass this test today. That’s the only thought Hoseok has as he rushes past the billowing smoke and catches up to Jimin, jumping ahead of him just in time for powerful blast to hit him in the face.

“Hoseok!” Jimin yells in panic, frozen in place once more.

When the smoke clears, the monster is gone. “I’m fine,” Hoseok frowns, smiling queasily at Jimin. “I’m really fine… I don’t know what that did.”

Jimin gapes at him. “You’re… but you just…”

“I know,” Hoseok chuckles awkwardly. His brain is starting to feel hazy but he tries to ignore it, not really sure what’s going on. He turns around in confusion, expecting to see something there although he isn’t sure what – but the area is deserted. They’re the only students around. “Don’t you have a test to get to?” Hoseok continues, ignoring how Jimin is still looking at him strangely. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

***

The way Taehyung greets Jungkook at lunch is a little different to his usual, neglecting to give any sort of attention to Jungkook in favour of playing a news story right in his ear.

“…after interviewing many of the victims and their family members, it would appear that a blast from the monster causes the recipient to forget the most important thing in their life.”

Jungkook blinks, shocked, the turns to stare at the phone. “How did the press get this information first?” he wonders aloud. The monster had disappeared again by the time Jungkook reached the school, but it looks like it’s actually left a trace this time. That’s a positive, at least.

Taehyung frowns at him. “First? Before who?” Then he raises an eyebrow incredulously. “You’re talking about yourself, aren’t you. Come on, Kook, why would you be special enough to find out beforehand?”

“You’re both wannabe superheroes,” Shinwon answers from opposite them, shoving another chip in his mouth. “Obviously you both think you’re special enough to know these things.”

“Well at least _I_ have a grip on reality,” Taehyung argues.

Yanan laughs. “Right, that’s _you_.”

“Jungkook isn’t arguing, he knows it’s true,” Taehyung declares.

And Jungkook isn’t arguing, but only because another thought is coming into his mind and settling there unpleasantly. “Oh _God,_ ” he says in horror. “Love Island is the most important thing in my sister’s life.”

Taehyung starts cackling, completely unsympathetic as usual.

***

Seokjin bursts in through the front door, a huge smile on his face as he rushes over to the sofa to join his brother Hoseok. “Turn off the TV,” he instructs. “I have something much more exciting to show you.”

Hoseok raises an eyebrow in vague interest but turns off the TV all the same. “What is it? Where have you been today?”

“New headshots,” he replies. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a few photos. “I had 15 printed of each, and I need some help figuring out which photo to send to which agency.”

Hoseok hums, taking the photos from his brother to look through them more closely. Seokjin moved back home over summer after finishing drama school and he’s desperate to get a semi-stable acting job so that he can move out again. It’s nice to have Seokjin around again, of course – they’ve always got along well – but their parents have never been quite so fond of the more creative careers.

“The cheesy grin is probably good for the less serious agencies,” Hoseok says, “but don’t send this anywhere that recruits for horror films or serious dramas. Maybe keep this one for the advertising- and comedy-focused agencies?”

“Recruits?” Seokjin smirks, mocking his terminology.

“I’m not an actor,” Hoseok protests. “What do you want from me?”

Seokjin frowns. “Hang on, what time is it? Why are you here?”

Hoseok stares at him. “I live here?” He shrugs, reaching for the TV remote again now that his advice seems to be generally unappreciated. “More than you do, anyway, you unsuccessful unemployed –”

Seokjin is too busy staring at his phone to pay him any attention. “It’s 5:15! Aren’t you usually in your dance lesson by now?”

Hoseok glances at him in confusion. Calling Seokjin unemployed is a low blow, always getting him started on some sort of monologue about how he’s technically both a graduate and a job-seeker, but definitely not unemployed _yet._ So the lack of reaction is interesting.

Also – “What dance group?”

Seokjin smiles. “Like we haven’t noticed? You always disappear every day just before 5pm. I know you won’t tell mum and dad where you’re going, but you don’t have to lie to me.”

“I really don’t know anything about a dance group,” Hoseok says honestly. But, come to think of it… “Did you say I always disappear at 5pm? Since when?”

“A few weeks now,” Seokjin answers, also getting steadily confused. “Okay… so maybe it’s not a dance group?” he considers. “I just figured that was why you wouldn’t tell our parents. But you can tell me.” It makes sense as a reason, really; Hoseok used to take dance lessons twice a week until his grades started slipping and his parents made him stop. He’s missed dancing ever since, in all honesty, and has been itching to get back to it – but this just doesn’t make any sense. And what makes even _less_ sense is why he feels like he can’t remember anything that happened before this morning.

“I couldn’t even tell you where I was yesterday if I wanted to,” Hoseok admits uncertainly. “I don’t remember anything.”

Seokjin gasps. (He’s always been the dramatic type. The acting career was a natural step, all considering.) “Oh my God, you didn’t get attacked by the monster, did you?”

Hoseok blinks as a cloud of blue dust floats back into his memory out of nowhere. “Uh… I don’t think so? Isn’t that the type of thing I’d remember?”

“Apparently not,” Seokjin grins. He’s strangely excited for someone who may have just found out that his brother was the victim of a monster attack. “I was reading an article about it earlier. There’s a new monster on the loose called Forget-Me-Noster – I know, dumb name, don’t look at me like that – and it’s dangerous, but not in the typical sense. It makes you forget something important in your life. Maybe the thing you forgot about was the dance group?!”

Hoseok sighs, feeling frustrated. Could he really have been attacked by a monster and then lost all recollection of the event? And above all, why did the monster leave him with nothing but a mental block about a dance group? Now he’s aware that he should be somewhere, it really _does_ feel like he’s missing something important.

“I can’t go if I don’t know where it is,” he tells Seokjin. “Anyway, even if I found out where the dance rehearsals took place, I wouldn’t remember any moves.”

Seokjin hums. “I doubt it would matter if you missed one rehearsal. Anyway, being attacked by a monster is probably a good excuse.”

***

Jungkook looks around the base when it reaches 5:05pm and sighs frustratedly when he realises they’re still down one Ranger. “Where’s Hoseok? He wasn’t here yesterday, either.”

“This isn’t like him,” Lisa says hesitantly. “He’s always the most enthusiastic. I don’t understand why he’d suddenly stop turning up.”

“Like I said before, you need to continue to train as usual,” Jaehyung says pragmatically. “Until we understand what the situation is with Hoseok, there’s nothing we can do to convince him otherwise.”

“Have any of you talked to him?” Namjoon asks quietly.

“I tried to this morning,” Yoongi says. “We’re in the same registration class so I went to confront him, but obviously we were surrounded by civilians and I couldn’t speak openly.”

Lisa snorts. “You’re really into this ‘superhero’ malarkey, aren’t you? I can’t believe you just called your classmates civilians.”

“You never even go to registration,” Rosé scoffs. “He probably thought it was odd you were there.”

Yoongi hums, ignoring their jibes. “Something felt off. More than just that. It seemed like he didn’t know why I was talking to him.”

“There’s no chance he got blasted by the new monster this week, is there?” Jungkook asks. “He could’ve forgotten he’s a Power Ranger.” He grins stupidly, expecting the others to laugh at the joke, but as they look at each other in panic Jungkook’s face falls.

“Oh shit,” Rosé says. “He’s forgotten he’s a Ranger, hasn’t he?”

“How do we reverse the magic?” Lisa asks Jaehyung and Namjoon urgently. “We need Hoseok on this team.”

“The only way to make all the victims remember is to defeat the monster,” Namjoon tells them grimly.

“Right, wonderful, that’s just great,” Rosé mumbles to herself. She then raises her voice. “So here’s how I understand the situation. We need Hoseok to defeat the monster. But we can’t get Hoseok back until we’ve defeated the monster. But we can’t do that without Hoseok. I’m not seeing an easy solution here.”

Jaehyung raises an eyebrow, seeming unimpressed. “It might not be easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. You defeated the first monster when your skills weren’t even nearly at the level they are now. The four of you combined probably have more power and skill than the five of you did before.”

“Jaehyung’s right,” Jungkook says, turning to his team determinedly. Now that Hoseok’s gone, it seems like he’s going to have to take on the leader role for real this time. “We work well as a team and we know the monster’s powers now. We just need the confidence to defeat it. And whatever you do, _don’t_ get hit by Forget-Me-Notster. We need to all stay together as a team and protect each other for this to be successful. Got it?”

Rosé raises an eyebrow at him, impressed. “Wow, you’ve stepped up.”

Jungkook shrugs. “Someone’s got to.” And apparently it won’t be Hoseok this time. Looks like it’s time for Jungkook to start figuring out what on earth is going on. (Or at least do better at pretending.)

***

When Jungkook’s communicator goes off on Friday evening, he’s stood in the middle of a field with Lisa and Yoongi at his side before he remembers about Rosé. He doesn’t have the chance to ask about it, a crowd of Blinks surrounding them and keeping them busy until a few minutes later when she arrives.

Rosé turns up in her dress and heels, looking extremely annoyed. The Blinks have just evaporated into thin air seconds earlier – or maybe teleported into space, since Jaehyung has a theory that their enemies live on a spaceship, but that’s neither here nor there. Either way, they’ve disappeared.

“I was at a _party_ ,” she hisses to her teammates. “I swear, if this monster has made a disappearing act again after I _ran_ here in _heels_ –”

“Are you talking about me?” a low mechanical voice cackles from nearby and Rosé turns around in trepidation.

“I don’t know whether to be more disgusted or relieved,” Rosé answers. Forget-Me-Notster isn’t exactly easy on the eyes, but at least she hasn’t come all this way for nothing. It’s her first time seeing this blue beast and she’s determined it’ll be the last time as well. Time to get rid of this irritating monster once and for all.

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” the monster shoots back. “You’re about to forget everything that just happened.”

“I don’t think so,” Yoongi shouts, already reaching for his weapon to stop the monster from going anywhere near his sister, before he realises he hasn’t morphed yet. He settles for glowering in the monster’s direction instead.

“Everything that’s happened?” Jungkook frowns, momentarily distracted. “I thought you just forgot the most important thing in your life.”

“Not the most important thing in your life,” the monster corrects proudly, apparently always happy to explain its powers to anyone who asks. “Just the most important thing in your life _at that moment._ So you’re all about to forget this fight!”

“Oh, thank God,” Jungkook mutters, and the monster falters at the unexpected response. But Jungkook’s mind is far from the present moment. Love Island _isn’t_ the most important thing in his sister’s life. She might actually still have a discernible personality. This is the best news he’s had all day.

“You ready to fight?” Lisa asks Jungkook, shocking him out of his thoughts as she blocks a blue blast of smoke in his direction. “I think it’s time for us to morph.”

The fight is smooth sailing, surprisingly. It looks like Forget-Me-Notster’s only real powers are the powers of making people forget, so the Rangers having each other’s backs is their best defence. A couple times a blue blast shoots towards Rosé, but Lisa blocks it with her sword. Yoongi’s Azalea Honey Blasters seem to be working some kind of magic of their own, too, causing sparks whenever they make contact with Forget-Me-Notster’s body. Soon enough, the monster is nothing but a blast of fire in the ground, but at least this time the Rangers are prepared for the fight not to be over just yet.

The Zord combines differently this time, the team having to make do without the Blue Iris Zord, and Jungkook tries to swallow his jealousy over how easily Yoongi and Rosé are able to ‘trust their flowers’ and join Jungkook and Lisa in front of the massive control.

“Thank god you’re not the brains again,” Lisa comments as she kicks out a left arm. “We don’t need a repeat of last time.”

“What are you talking about? You defeated the monster,” Yoongi says curiously. He’s in charge of the right arm this time, Jungkook and Rosé controlling the feet on either side.

“It was a fluke,” Jungkook acknowledges. He taps the controls in front of him absentmindedly, sending the Forget-Me-Notster flying. He watches in surprise. “Uh – did I do that?”

“Even if it’s a fluke, keep doing what you’re doing,” Rosé says seriously.

“I’m so glad we have a gamer on our team,” Yoongi adds.

Jungkook smiles, the comment making him feel a little shy for some reason. His first compliment from Min Yoongi, someone he still feels illogically scared of. Maybe it’s the push that he needs to keep fighting harder – or, rather, to keep pressing random buttons and hoping for the best. Surprisingly, it seems to work in his favour. And maybe one of the main things their team needed was just a little more confidence.

“I want to try the fireball!” Rosé says excitedly when the fight is nearing its end.

“Trust me, you don’t,” Lisa mutters.

“Any other suggestions?” Jungkook asks seriously.

“What does that button do?” Yoongi asks, gesturing towards a button with a symbol of a bouquet covered by an umbrella.

Jungkook shrugs. “Try it.”

Yoongi presses the button and almost immediately, red, yellow, pink and purple beams shoot from the combined Zord’s centre. They all watch in amazement as the monster explodes right before their eyes.

“Trial and error,” Jungkook says proudly. “Works a charm.”

Rosé grins. “That was a nice ending comment, Jungkook. Some truly idiotic fighting talk right there. Hoseok would be proud of you.”

Jungkook laughs. “Talking of which, do you think he’s back yet? We should go check on him.”

***

They find Hoseok at the library. He’s sitting at one of the tables, head in his hands. “He’ll be okay in a few minutes,” Jaehyung explains when he sees the Rangers approaching. “Just give him some time for the memories to sink back in. Unlike some of the other victims, he has quite a lot to come to terms with.”

Lisa nods, looking anxiously towards Hoseok. “He’ll be fine, right?”

“Yes,” Jaehyung reassures her. “We’re lucky this is happening here, actually. He just came in to return some books. Oh, that reminds me – someone called Jimin left this note for you?”

Lisa grins as she accepts the note, not noticing how Yoongi is now glaring at her.

“Seriously, chill,” Rosé murmurs surreptitiously. “It’s just a note.”

Yoongi huffs and walks over to the secret door, heading down into the basement without a word.

“So much for improving our teamwork, huh?” Jungkook says wryly.

Hoseok blinks, looking up at him. “Teamwork,” he says slowly.

Rosé laughs. “You okay there?”

Hoseok grins, shaking his head a little before standing up. “That monster had me going crazy for a good few days. You didn’t miss me too much, did you?”

“Not at all,” Jungkook grins.

“You used the Flower Shower attack!” Namjoon says excitedly, interrupting their moment as he bounds into the room through the basement door.

Rosé stifles a laugh. “You think he hit Yoongi with that enthusiasm too, when he clearly went down there for some peace and quiet?”

Jungkook snorts at the thought. “I sure hope so.”

“What’s the Flower Shower attack?” Lisa asks curiously.

“All the flower powers come together to shower over your opponent,” Namjoon explains. “It was the final attack you used; the one symbolised by the flowers and the umbrella.”

“Oh,” Rosé says in realisation. “That was a really neat trick. How did you manage to design that?”

Namjoon shrugs, but he’s clearly happy with the compliment. “It’s all down to the Mystic Jewels, really. I’m just here to make sure they emphasise your best qualities as fighters. Thank the prophecy, not me.”

“Do you ever think he talks in riddles just to confuse us?” Rosé asks Jungkook.

“I think he just talks like that because he doesn’t know any better,” Jungkook replies honestly. He turns to Namjoon. “You know that we don’t all speak ancient prophecy, right?”

Hoseok laughs. “I missed you guys.”

“No you didn’t,” Rosé shoots back. “You didn’t even remember us.”

“Completely not my fault,” Hoseok protests.

“What do you say we all go hang out somewhere?” Lisa suggests, and they turn to her in surprise. “What? Are you really that shocked I want to socialise?”

“We should go grab Yoongi too,” Hoseok suggests. “He wouldn’t want to miss out.”

After a very confusing week with no Hoseok there to force them all together as a team, it feels good to have him back and forcing them together again. (Even if Yoongi protests when he’s dragged out of the basement, complaining that he’s seen enough people for today. They’ve all figured out now that he’s more sociable than he first seems.)

***

Lisa approaches Jungkook carefully after training is over a couple days later. The other three Rangers have just headed out the library front door and Jungkook is about to follow, but something about Lisa’s demeanour makes him hold back. “Hey, what’s up?”

She smiles awkwardly. “You know how we were analysing our flower characteristics to try and figure out what made us bond to the jewels?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook says hesitantly. “Why, what did you find out?”

Lisa chuckles; an uncomfortable, strained sound. “Ah, well. I think I know your secret.”

Jungkook stumbles over his own feet. “You what?” he asks, his eyes wide as he panics way too soon. She couldn’t possibly mean… but she doesn’t even _know_ Taehyung. He looks around carefully to make sure no one is looking at them. It doesn’t make sense: Namjoon and Jaehyung are still downstairs in the base and the others have already gone.

 _But what else am I hiding?_ Jungkook asks himself, racking his brain for an explanation. He’s not exactly a guarded person when it comes to anything else – except for being a Power Ranger, of course. But she can’t possibly be talking about that, that’s just dumb.

“I know yours too,” he attempts regardless. “We’re both Power Rangers.”

Lisa laughs. “Not what I meant.” She fidgets uncomfortably, looking down at her shoes. “Look, I was thinking about how we missed an important aspect of our flower analysis and that’s why we didn’t catch on to the plan. You know, how Hoseok’s best traits in the team are communication and spreading hope to the other team members.”

Jungkook sighs. “What are you talking about?”

“You got really closed off when Rosé said we should share our biggest secret,” Lisa explains. “Maybe I’m way off, and I’m really not trying to pry, but I thought I’d better warn you before the others catch on too. Roses symbolise passion, desire, longing… love.”

Jungkook stares at her.

“It could be love for anything, I suppose.” She shrugs weakly. “But just on the off chance that there’s someone in your life and you don’t want to talk about it, you should probably have an answer in mind for when we discuss this tomorrow. It looks like the concepts symbolised by our respective flowers are more important to our team than we first considered.”

Jungkook nods. She isn’t jumping to conclusions and to be realistic, this probably has nothing to do with Taehyung at all. He should stop being so paranoid. “Thanks for the heads up. But I think you’re reading into this, really. The red rose probably just means I have a lot of love to give,” he suggests. “Especially to the team, and I should do that more. That’s something I realised this week.”

Lisa smiles slightly. “Okay, good. I’m glad it isn’t anything too serious. I was starting to worry about how much you must be keeping inside.” She pauses. “But if you did need anything, sunflowers symbolise loyalty. I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Jungkook chuckles. “Yeah, no worries. And thanks.”

“Of course,” Lisa says easily. “See you tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Jungkook echoes. And it’s funny, probably, that he should go home feeling like he’s been found out, like someone’s been able to read him scarily clearly. But Lisa doesn’t know anything, not really, and Jungkook doesn’t think it matters all that much what she thinks. More than anything, it just feels good to be able to trust that she won’t read into it – it feels good to trust someone on his team for something not-Power-Ranger related. It isn’t just Hoseok who he’s starting to value more after everything this week; they’re already planning to hang out more outside of training and Jungkook is starting to view them more as friends than as teammates. It’s not bad, really, knowing that he has four trained fighters in his life who he can trust to have his back when he needs it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ‘flower shower’ attack is 100% inspired by HyunA’s Flower Shower and I’m not ashamed


	4. creeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which everyone thinks the Pink Ranger (Yoongi) is a girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yoongi and jimin meet in this chapter :D I wasn’t going to have this moment until later on but what can I say, these characters have minds of their own
> 
> Important: warning in this chapter for mentions of strangulation and suffocation :( it’s all monster related and no one dies!! But just in case - this is a bit more gruesome than the other chapters but I wouldn’t say it was graphic at all. Please ask me in the comments if you have any concerns :))
> 
> hope you enjoy the chapter~ casually posting a Halloween special in September lmao

Things go back to normal for a while after the fight with Forget-Me-Notster. Jungkook goes to training each day, still, and he learns that the concepts their flowers represent really do give an interesting insight into each Ranger’s personality: Lisa is fiercely loyal to her teammates; Hoseok encourages them to communicate well with one another; and Jungkook’s passion for the team keeps them working hard even though no new monsters have appeared for a couple of weeks now. The symbolism for Rosé and Yoongi is a bit harder to figure out, maybe because their representative flowers are less common, or maybe because they’re more complex people so harder to understand in general. Jungkook’s known Rosé for a while now but he still doesn’t exactly get her, and Yoongi is a different ball game altogether. It doesn’t help that Yoongi’s azalea flower can apparently be used to represent any number of a things, which the others decide acts as evidence for his mysteriousness (or his temperamental personality, as Rosé suggests). And, well, the only concrete symbolism they find for a spider flower is the gifting of one to someone you want to elope with. Which could represent the escapism Rosé finds in her Ranger duties, or maybe that she prefers to run away rather than deal with difficult situations… or perhaps that she actually wants to elope and get married at 17. Who knows.

They also discover while researching that Hoseok’s flower was originally named after the Greek goddess Iris, whose name means ‘rainbow’, which Hoseok obviously takes to mean that he should be the leader of the Flower Rangers. The others have tried to dissuade him from calling their team that, of course, but to no avail. Hoseok will do what he wants when it comes to nicknames. He has also recently started calling Yoongi ‘Yoongles’, which somehow he gets away with even though Yoongi looks as if he’s about to punch something every time he says it.

It’s safe to say they’ve become close friends. Hoseok even has them over for a film night one Friday, the four of them huddled round a bowl of popcorn that’s quickly diminishing while Hoseok goes to get them more snacks. They haven’t even started the film yet, too caught up in the excitement of actually being able to socialise outside their usual setting of a flower-patterned, cold basement in sweaty gym clothes. It makes a nice change.

Hoseok is getting a bag of crisps out of the kitchen cupboard when the doorbell rings. He puts the packet down in surprise and opens the door.

“Hey,” Jimin says anxiously, loitering on the doorstep. “My family are being loud and annoying again and I can’t concentrate. Is it okay if I get some work done here? I don’t have to bother you if you’re in the middle of something.”

Hoseok hesitates. “Ah, I actually have some people over... Why don’t you come in and join us?”

Jimin’s eyes widen in interest and he puts his backpack down on the kitchen table. “You’re sure I wouldn’t be intruding?”

“Course not,” Hoseok says easily. “Come on through. It’s a bit of a random mix of people. They’re all friendly, though – Yoongi’s in our registration class, actually, but he hardly ever shows up so I doubt you know him.”

“You’re friends with Yoongi?” Jimin asks in surprise. Then he chuckles. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You’re friends with everyone.”

Hoseok grins. “No one’s antisocial enough to put me off. I’m anti-antisociality. Go into the lounge,” he suggests, gesturing to the door behind him, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Jimin looks around curiously when he walks through. He recognises Jungkook and Rosé, two of the popular people at school who everyone keeps expecting to start dating. Then there’s Yoongi, the boy in the year above who’s infamously quiet and mysterious. And finally –

“Oh, hi Lisa,” Jimin smiles when he sees a familiar face.

“Hi!” Lisa smiles brightly. “How have you been? How are you getting along with the new novels?”

“Not great,” Jimin admits sheepishly. “I’ve been overrun with work lately.”

“Same,” Lisa says sympathetically. “But we all need a break sometimes. Are you joining us for the film? We’ve just picked something but we haven’t started watching it yet.”

“Why not,” Jimin smiles. He quickly observes the seating arrangement so far: Jungkook and Lisa are spread across the floor, sat on cushions with a blanket stretched between them, while Rosé and Yoongi are occupying the sofa, Hoseok’s tell-tale cushion perched in between them. (Hoseok never sits down to watch something without it, claiming that it’s the most comfortable cushion in the world and he can’t go back to regular cushions now he’s had a taste of heaven. If he sits somewhere else, the cushion goes with him.)

Jimin calculates the options for a second before deciding. “Can I squeeze in here?” Jimin asks Yoongi, gesturing to the edge of the sofa. It should be easy enough to fit four people on the sofa instead of three, and it looks much more comfortable than the floor.

Yoongi blinks rapidly. “Uh. Yeah, of course.” He shuffles up, shifting Hoseok’s cushion along the sofa to make room. Rosé smirks at them and Yoongi surreptitiously hits her on the arm with the cushion to make her shut the fuck up.

“How do you all know each other?” Jimin asks as he sits down. It feels like Yoongi stiffens next to him and he hopes that he hasn’t overstepped some sort of personal space boundary.

“Jungkook, Lisa and I are in the same History class,” Rosé explains. “She’s been helping us with research in the library. Yoongi and I are step-siblings, and Yoongi and Hoseok have registration together, so we just fell together as a group quite naturally.”

“Are you really in our registration class?” Jimin asks Yoongi doubtfully. “Hoseok said you’re not there often, but I don’t think I’ve seen you at all.”

Yoongi blinks at him. “What do you mean by ‘our’?”

“Jimin switched to our class recently because he needed a more sociable environment,” Hoseok explains with a grin, coming back in with a bowl of crisps for them to share. He puts them down on the coffee table in front of Lisa and Jungkook before plopping down onto the sofa between Yoongi and Rosé. “Even the teachers think he works too hard.”

Jimin smiles embarrassedly. “They told me I needed to socialise more.”

Yoongi looks at him in surprise. “They told me the same thing. That’s why I moved into Hoseok’s class when I was held back a year,” he explains.

Jungkook raises an eyebrow in vague interest. “It didn’t make a difference for you, though, did it?” He reaches forwards for the crisp bowl, then ends up putting the bowl in his lap and balancing his feet on the table in front of him.

Yoongi laughs a little. “Can’t make a difference if you never show up.”

“You should come to registration more and sit with us,” Hoseok enthuses. “I know everyone in the class so I can introduce you to the others if you want.”

Yoongi goes to refuse, then something seems to stop him. “Uh – I might take you up on that,” he says hesitantly. Jimin smiles at him and Yoongi shyly smiles back.

“Right,” Hoseok says as he claps his hands. “Everyone ready to start? Also, Jungkook, don’t hog those crisps. I know you need to be fed regularly but the snacks are for everyone.”

Jungkook snorts. “I’ve only had a few.” He throws a few more in his mouth and starts chomping noisily before Lisa confiscates them.

They’re about to press play when Hoseok’s brother walks into the room. “Hi everyone. Am I interrupting?” he asks. He reaches a hand round from behind the sofa to steal Hoseok’s popcorn.

“Yes,” Hoseok answers. “And I was about to put that in my mouth. You could’ve taken some from the bowl instead of out of my fingers.”

He simply laughs in response. “To those of you I haven’t met, hi, I’m Seokjin – Hoseok’s brother and future famous actor.”

“He has an ego the size of Jupiter,” Hoseok discloses. “Okay, Seokjin, run along now.”

Yoongi laughs when Seokjin leaves. “That’s the meanest I’ve ever seen you be to someone.”

Hoseok shrugs. “Being nice is a social rule that doesn’t apply between siblings.”

“Yeah, Yoongi, you know all about that,” Rosé says casually.

“You’re so much worse than I am,” Yoongi argues.

“I’d ask if we need to separate you two, but I’m already sat in the middle,” Hoseok says good-naturedly.

Jimin chuckles. “You two are funny,” he says. “Yoongi, you can just talk to me if your sister gets too annoying. I promise I’m good company whenever I’m not busy with schoolwork.”

Yoongi gapes at him.

Rosé grins. “With that sorted, shall we watch the film?”

***

“Jungkookie,” Taehyung grins when he meets Jungkook outside his house in the morning to walk to school together. “Hi there.”

Jungkook blinks at him. “We usually meet on the corner near your house.”

“I’m aware,” he sniggers. “But I was running early and I needed to show you something that couldn’t wait.”

Jungkook frowns as he starts walking. “Since when have you ever been running early?”

“Look, monsters are roaming the city and there are real life Power Rangers. The world’s been a bit crazy lately.”

Jungkook nods. “Fair point.”

Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows. “Talking of…” He holds up his phone in front of Jungkook’s face.

“Tae, don’t,” Jungkook complains, shoving the phone away. “I need to see where I’m going.”

“No you don’t,” Taehyung scoffs, completely unsympathetic as he puts his phone over Jungkook’s eyes once more. “Don’t you trust me?”

And Jungkook does, of course he does, how could he not? But he also wholeheartedly expects Taehyung to let him walk into something (or someone) just because he’d find it funny. Trusting is one thing and being realistic is another. “Can’t you just show me at school,” he mutters, the phone still blocking his view of the street. This could become dangerous very quickly, he thinks passively.

“The more you protest, the longer it’ll take,” Taehyung says reasonably. He then takes pity slightly, throwing an arm round Jungkook’s shoulders. “I’ll guide you, okay? Just watch the video.”

Jungkook sighs. Taehyung’s fingers brush against the nape of his neck and Jungkook has a feeling he won’t be able to pay much attention to the video anyway, but he still allows Taehyung to shove an earbud in his ear and press play on the video.

And then Jungkook’s heart does somersaults in his chest, something crazy enough that it’s _definitely_ not solely because Taehyung has started playing with his hair as they walk. It’s more than that. Way more. Because a news reporter is stood there explaining how they got _real life footage_ of the last Power Rangers fight against an evil monster. Jungkook glances at Taehyung, the panic clear on his face if only Taehyung were to look at him, but thankfully he’s actually keeping his word and looking ahead to steer Jungkook out of the way of passers-by and bicyclists. (Why Jungkook couldn’t just hold the phone himself, he isn’t sure, but Taehyung’s always stubborn about the most peculiar things.)

The news reporter is giving an introduction to the footage, explaining that a civilian happened to pass by at the right moment and got out their phone to record, only sending the footage over to the news station a couple of weeks after the event had passed. Jungkook gets antsier as the reporter speaks: how much of the fight was captured? If the filming started before the Rangers morphed, then their identities will be revealed. But then surely Taehyung would say something? Or would he really just walk at Jungkook’s side, one hand in his face and the other hand _still_ _in his fucking hair_ , waiting for him to figure out that Taehyung knows his secret?

The fighting footage starts midway through their tussle with Forget-Me-Notster and Jungkook breathes an impossible sigh of relief.

Taehyung naturally misunderstands the reaction: “Amazing, isn’t it? I’ve re-watched the footage 5 times just this morning. They made defeating that monster look so easy.”

A shy smile spreads on Jungkook’s face at the praise. Looking for Taehyung’s approval is second nature, really, maybe borderline unhealthy by this point, but it’s always nice to receive a compliment. Even if it’s indirect and Taehyung thinks they’re talking about mysterious celebrities.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Jungkook admits. It’s also really odd to him to view the fight as an outsider; to see what it must have looked like to someone just passing by. “I can’t believe there’s actual footage of this,” he says after the video stops.

“Me too,” Taehyung grins. He puts his phone back in his pocket and brings his arms back to his sides, and Jungkook pretends not to feel colder at the loss of his touch. “Isn’t it insane those were real people in those suits?” he questions, looking dreamily into the distance. It’s such a typical Taehyung move, to stare off into space while they’re walking down a busy street during rush hour. Like he doesn’t have a care in the world. When Jungkook’s with him, that carefree spirit spreads to him and Jungkook feels more relaxed, too. It’s one of his favourite things about Taehyung.

“Kook?” Taehyung questions.

Shit. It’s too early in the morning for this. He should maybe pay more attention to the conversation. “Yeah, I agree,” Jungkook says feebly.

Taehyung snorts. “You can just admit you weren’t listening. What’s up with you lately, anyway? You seem so spaced out all the time.” He then raises an eyebrow. “Were you picturing what it would be like to be a Power Ranger? Because honestly, relatable.”

Jungkook chuckles at the irony. “Sure. Something like that.”

***

Sungjin sighs frustratedly and has the urge to punch something. “What’s taking so long?” he grumbles. “The Rangers know about the monsters now and they’re probably training regularly. So yes, you may have a point Jennie,” he acknowledges hesitantly, “but even if we started a bit prematurely, we can’t stop sending monsters now. We need to keep them from getting stronger.”

“It takes time,” Jennie responds tersely. “If we need to stop our monsters from getting destroyed each time, we need to consistently improve our designs as well. There’s no point sending down something sub-standard; it will only give them more confidence.”

Jisoo taps her pen against her cheek, deep in thought. “We need to give them something that breaks them down. Something terrifying.”

“Your contribution is invaluable,” Sungjin deadpans.

Jisoo raises an eyebrow at him but doesn’t argue back. She turns to Jennie. “The powers aren’t elaborate yet. We need more inspiration. I keep thinking of those plants that wrap themselves around walls and trellises and trying to think if there’s anything we could do with that…”

Jennie nods. “What are they called again? Creepers?”

“Yes!” Jisoo grins. “What a creepy name. You know, it’s nearing the end of October – from what I remember, the spooky Halloween season is almost upon us.”

Sungjin groans. “You’re acting like a child, Jisoo. Would you mind taking this seriously?”

“You’re acting like you do all the work around here,” Jennie snaps. “All you do is parade around and order us to make new monsters. Why don’t _you_ start taking this seriously?”

“I’m going to research the creepers and consult the dark magic encyclopaedia,” Jisoo tells them pragmatically, cutting off the argument before it can really begin. She’s always been the most easy-going of the three, balancing out their confrontational spirits with a calm and calculated approach to each situation. “We should figure out if there’s a way to control the way those plants wrap themselves around things and maybe speed up the process. If we could trap the Rangers mid-fight, it would resolve a lot of the issues we’ve had so far.”

Sungjin hums. “Let me know if you find anything useful.” He turns to Jennie. “And don’t forget that I made your rings,” he stresses. “You wouldn’t have this much power if it weren’t for me.” They both have a ring on their right index finger, Jennie’s with a white gem and Jisoo’s with a black gem, which help them to hone their magic and increase the accuracy of the powers.

“You didn’t do it alone,” Jennie reminds him, but the sudden coldness of Sungjin’s eyes makes her stop mid-sentence.

“Not a word,” Sungjin says tensely. He turns on his heel and exits the workroom.

Jisoo sighs tiredly. “You should know by now not to mention it.”

Jennie shrugs. “His fault for starting a fight. Anyway, he acts as if you don’t do anything around here besides naming the monsters. You do most of the research so that I’m able to design them and bring them to life. I wish he’d stop underestimating us.”

Jisoo laughs. “Let’s just get this monster sorted, okay? Then we can work through the family drama when we’re done.”

***

Yeeun makes a face when they walk into the room. “Your room stinks.”

“It smells of _man_.”

Yeeun looks at him in poorly veiled disgust. “You’re a child. A stinky, unkempt child.”

Jungkook glares at her. “I’m older than you –”

“Are we playing?” she interrupts, carefully pushing a corner of duvet away from her so she can sit on the mattress. She grimaces as she sits.

“Are you sure you even want to be here?” Jungkook says doubtfully. He isn’t trying to put her off – a small part of him wants to get back to that time when they used to play video games together and actually not be enemies for a couple hours in the day. But the request to game together tonight seemed so out of place and random that Jungkook feels like he needs to ask, for fear of having fallen into a time warp.

“Duh? I was the one who asked,” Yeeun says, popping her bubblegum.

“You shouldn’t play while chewing that, this game gets intense,” Jungkook says seriously. “You don’t want to get too into it and then choke on the gum.” It happened to Taehyung once. He was fine, of course – Jungkook’s convinced by this point that Taehyung’s pretty much invincible.

“Okay _mum,_ ” Yeeun says pointedly before blowing another bubble pointedly.

It’s Jungkook’s turn to look at her in disgust. “Don’t call me mum, you’re being weird.”

“ _You’re_ being weird.”

“Whatever.” Jungkook sets up the console and hands Yeeun one of the controllers. He’s busy setting up a new game as he asks, “So why did you want to play Power Rangers? Are you trying to impress a boy you like or something?”

“Can’t I want to play just because it’s enjoyable?” Yeeun argues.

Jungkook scoffs. “Obviously. But I doubt that’s actually what’s up.”

Yeeun simply shrugs. “I didn’t stop liking video games, I just got older and it stopped being cool.”

Jungkook frowns at the insinuation that he’s uncool. “Hey –”

“I’m a girl, remember,” Yeeun says pointedly. Followed by an eye roll. “The norms are different. Stop being so pressed.”

“You’re telling me not to be pressed about gender roles?” Jungkook says blankly.

“You’re a boy, you’re not as affected by them,” she reasons.

“That literally doesn’t make sense –”

“ _You_ literally don’t make sense.”

Jungkook sighs. Didn’t those sorts of comebacks stop being innovative three years ago? “Whatever, forget that for a sec. If video games aren’t cool, what changed?”

“There are real Power Rangers,” Yeeun says, her voice condescending as if this reasoning should be perfectly clear to Jungkook already. “They’re cool again.” They finally reach the screen with the avatar options and Yeeun grins as she selects the Pink Ranger. “Who do you think the real Rangers are?” she says excitedly. “I’d love to be the pink one, she’s always my favourite.”

Jungkook stifles a laugh as he thinks of Yoongi. “Right.”

“What?” Yeeun asks defensively. “So what if I like the pink one, she’s still badass. Wait till she hears you’ve been laughing at her, she’ll kick your head in.”

Jungkook frowns, eyes still on the screen. “When did you get so violent?” He automatically chooses to be the Red Ranger, then wonders if he should’ve done something different to at least let himself off the hook once. It’s kind of tiring always being the leader. Then again, he supposes Yeeun will be useless at this game regardless, so the leader capacity will probably fall to Jungkook whichever avatar he chooses.

“People have been saying that the real Rangers go to our school,” Yeeun says conversationally, and Jungkook almost drops his controller in surprise.

“Really?” he asks warily.

“Yeah,” Yeeun continues, then another obnoxious bubble pop. “The last monster targeted people at our school. It can’t be a coincidence, right? The city’s massive, I don’t know why they’re so focused on a school of all places.”

Jungkook hums, trying to play it cool. “I guess you have a point.” Loads of people go to their school. Even if this narrows things down, the chances of the public discovering the Rangers’ real identities are still very slim. He looks at the screen again; the new game has almost finished loading. Seeing the red suit is lowkey triggering. At least these Rangers don’t have petal-patterned helmets or floral belts. There’s some sort of escape in this game, he supposes, if he looks hard enough.

Yeeun grins, the excitement shining through her act of indifference. “What are you waiting for? Let’s play.”

***

“Hey, Kook, did you hear?” Yanan says as they’re gaming together. It’s the first time in a while that Jungkook has been able to join them online, and he suspects it’s mostly because Taehyung insisted they play at 4pm today instead of 5pm. He hasn’t told Taehyung where he’s been going, but they’re best friends for a reason and Taehyung is only oblivious about select things. He’s clearly noticed that Jungkook’s been annoyed about missing out.

“Hear what?” Jungkook says, shooting another enemy down.

“Oh shit,” Yanan mutters. “Sorry, got distracted. I died again, what the fuck?”

Taehyung laughs at the despair in his voice, and Jungkook grins at the sound. No one can see him, the call being voice-only, so there’s no need to pretend his heart doesn’t do a little jump in his chest every time he hears Taehyung laugh.

They all jibe at Yanan as they watch his corner of the screen black out and reset. “Someone’s having a shit day,” Changgu comments kindly.

Yanan groans. “I’m just distracted. Coach told me today that there’s a pre-season football match scheduled for a couple weeks’ time, so we have to start training again.”

“Wait, shit, really?” Jungkook asks in surprise. He shoots another two people down and keeps running, looking for the hideout. “But we never have fixtures before spring term.” He and Yanan are definitely the sporty ones out of the five of them, representing the school’s football team in spring term and the athletics team in summer.

“Yeah, but there are a couple schools who want some practice before next term and the coach wasn’t about to let the other teams prepare without getting us involved,” Yanan says. It’s a fair point: if everyone else gets some practice in before the proper matches, their team could be disadvantaged and they might not make it as far as usual in the annual inter-school tournament. Still, Jungkook kind of has more important things to spend his time on lately, and the idea that two days a week will be taken up by football practice doesn’t make him as excited as it might have a few weeks ago.

“How long does practice usually last?” he asks anxiously.

“Till 4:30,” Yanan says. “Why?”

“Jungkook’s taken up a secret lifestyle,” Taehyung comments. Jungkook snorts at the phrasing, even if it is surprisingly accurate. “Haven’t you noticed he keeps disappearing in the evenings?”

“We’ll see you never, then?” Changgu says.

“Even less, if I can help it,” Jungkook quips, then groans as Taehyung’s avatar appears on his screen and shoots him down. “Tae, what the hell, we’re on the same team.”

“That’s annoying for _everyone_ , not just Jungkook,” Shinwon agrees in protest. “Figure out a different way to complain about him ditching us.”

Taehyung laughs delightedly. “Well now you’re just telling me to stop having fun.”

Somewhat predictably, Jungkook signs off at 5pm even though the others are still playing, and he wonders how much his friends will actually start questioning his ‘secret lifestyle’. But he has places to be.

The Rangers definitely aren’t too excited about their secret lifestyle being a little more public now. “I hate that someone recorded us fighting,” Yoongi says, disgruntled. “No one will stop talking about the Power Rangers and it’s pissing me off.”

Hoseok raises an eyebrow. “Wow, you really don’t like fame.”

“No one ever talks to me, just how I like it,” Yoongi states. “But now people talk _about_ me. And it’s _weird._ Everyone seems to think I’m a girl, too. Fuck gender norms, why can’t a man wear pink?”

Jungkook chuckles. “I’m surprised you didn’t say something earlier, actually. People always assume the pink one will be female.”

“I didn’t care before. But then I saw some boys in my class looking at pictures of the Pink Ranger and trying to see my boobs through my suit,” he says disgustedly.

“Welcome to life as a woman,” Rosé comments.

“But I’m not a woman,” Yoongi protests. “It doesn’t even make sense!”

“Are you saying that objectifying women makes sense?” Hoseok questions, befuddled.

“No,” Yoongi says, “that’s gross and immoral – and _yes_ , I have a moral code, shut up Rosé,” he snaps when she opens her mouth. “But I’m not even a woman. When you’re objectifying a woman who’s actually a man, it makes even less sense than the little sense it already makes.”

“So we’ve established that women should be able to go about their lives without being objectified and that men should be able to wear pink,” Jungkook says pragmatically. “Glad we got that settled. Ready to move on and start training?”

“No time like the present!” Hoseok enthuses.

“You know, azaleas can represent femininity and womanhood,” Lisa says to Yoongi as they start to jog round the basement.

“Fuck off,” Yoongi grumbles.

***

“I can’t believe she’s setting us another project,” Rosé protests as she and Jungkook walk out of their History class. “We practically just finished the last one.”

“It was last month,” Jungkook says.

“What’s your point,” Rosé says angrily.

Jungkook snorts. “At least it’s a presentation.”

“How’s that better?” Rosé argues.

“We can blag our way through it. And also if we don’t get it done on time, it’s not late, it’s just bad.”

Rosé grimaces. “The bright side is looking surprisingly dark.”

Jungkook snickers.

“Like you’re so happy about it,” she accuses. “You hate that class more than anything. Actually, I don’t think you love any of your subjects. You just bask in others’ misfortune.”

“I enjoy some things,” Jungkook says, affronted. “I have hobbies. My flower is the rose, remember?” he points out. “I’ve got plenty of love in me. Just not for History.”

“I’ll tell you what we should research,” Rosé says suddenly, an idea coming to her, “the history of Power Rangers mythology.”

Jungkook laughs. “Right. Like we could get away with that.”

Rosé shrugs. “I’m just saying. It’d be great preparation for training, plus we could breeze through the project. I’m sure Namjoon and Jaehyung know loads about it if we just asked them.”

Jungkook winces at the thought. “Feel free to ask them if you want.”

Rosé raises an eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right? You’re scared of Namjoon?”

“Not Namjoon,” Jungkook says. “Jaehyung.”

Rosé snickers. “You scare so easily.”

“Says the person who was scared of the _library_ –”

“Hey,” Eunbi says, approaching Rosé in the hallway. She looks at Jungkook warily before deciding to ignore his presence and continue talking. “I haven’t seen you around lately!” she continues cheerily. “Anyway, I just heard that the reason you had to rush off from my party the other week was because of a family emergency… is everything okay?” She looks concerned, but there’s something in her tone of voice that sets Jungkook on edge a little. It’s almost as if she’s offended Rosé rushed off.

“Yeah, things should be okay now,” Rosé smiles politely. “Thanks for checking. I hope the rest of the party was good. I’m sorry I had to leave early.”

“It’s not a problem!” Eunbi says quickly. “It’s a shame you couldn’t stick around though, you missed most of the fun,” she chuckles. “Anyway, I’ll see you at lunch.” She gives Jungkook another awkward glance before turning around and walking down the corridor in the other direction.

“That was weird,” Jungkook comments.

Rosé frowns at him. “Why?”

“The conversation felt really stilted,” Jungkook says. “Do you always talk like that?”

Rosé shrugs. “She’s nice. We’re good friends. But I guess we’re not good enough friends that she could make fun of me for rushing off or ask me what really happened. Which is convenient given this situation, I guess.”

Jungkook grunts. “I thought she was one of your closest friends.”

Rosé hesitates, then turns to him, stopping in the middle of the hallway. “Do you feel like, now you’re a Ranger, you don’t have so much in common with your friends anymore?” she says anxiously.

Jungkook doesn’t even have to think about it for a split second. “No,” he says honestly. Apart from him tensing up every time his friends bring up the Power Rangers and not being able to spend as much time with them as he’d like, everything’s exactly the same. He wishes he could still spend as much time as them all as he used to – Taehyung was right in thinking he feels left out sometimes, when he, Yanan, Changgu and Shinwon are all online playing video games together and Jungkook’s busy with training. Taehyung always tells him all the funny things he misses and lets him know that their team wouldn’t lose next time if Jungkook played with them too. Clearly their Overwatch dream team only works when the five of them play all together. Taehyung has also rescheduled the start time to 4pm on a couple of occasions, to ensure that Jungkook can at least make it for the beginning. Things like that help him to feel more included.

“I don’t know what it was about the party, but something was really off,” Rosé admits. “I got so… _bored._ That’s one of the reasons I just stayed with you guys after the fight instead of going back.” She pauses, hesitating again before lowering her voice. “They’re all quite… shallow.” She winces as she says it, like she’s afraid of offending somebody.

Jungkook looks at her in surprise. “Would it offend you if I said I thought you were the same?”

Rosé laughs, the atmosphere lightening instantly. “Yes.”

Jungkook grins. “I don’t mean it like that. I just thought you had a lot in common. You like talking about dresses and makeup and stuff, so, I don’t know. It fits.”

Rosé hums. “I’m interested in fashion. That doesn’t mean I lack a discernible personality.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow. “Like Yeeun?”

Rosé snorts. “Well you said it, not me.”

“She looks up to you a lot,” Jungkook says conversationally. “But then she also wants to be best friends with the Pink Ranger, so I don’t think we can really trust her perspective on things,” he adds contemplatively.

Rosé laughs again. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I really can’t picture Yeeun and Yoongi talking to each other.”

“Be quiet, someone could hear,” Jungkook warns, but he’s grinning. “I love that everyone thinks he’s a girl, he’s been getting so mad about it.”

“Can you two stop having a moment in the middle of the hallway?” a student jibes as she walks past, shoving into Rosé’s shoulder slightly in protest. “Some of us actually have places to be?”

“Totally not what that was,” Rosé gripes back as Jungkook rolls his eyes. The student’s already gone. Rosé steps to the side regardless, Jungkook following suit. “I actually have to get to my next class.”

Jungkook grimaces in sympathy. “No frees today?”

“Nope,” she says, popping the ‘p’. “I’ll catch you tonight?” she adds, voice raised as starts to walk away.

“You got it,” Jungkook calls back, then sees a couple people looking his way. He resists the temptation to roll his eyes again; this will no doubt start a new onslaught of rumours about his and Rosé’s ‘will they/won’t they’ relationship. (Spoiler: they won’t.)

***

Jungkook’s in a free period a few days later when his communicator goes off. As he’s throwing his books into his bag and chucking it in the corner of the library, he realises with a start that he was getting complacent. Just because there’s been a break for a couple of weeks, it doesn’t mean that the monsters have stopped coming. This probably just means that their enemy has had longer to perfect the next one’s powers: as the monsters keep getting stronger, he has to keep getting stronger as well. That’s the main thought in his brain as he rushes to the location specified on his communicator.

It’s proven to be a worthwhile thought when the Power Rangers arrive to see 15 Blinks already on the scene. There seem to be more of them every time a new fight breaks out.

They’re coping okay for the first few minutes, but they quickly realise that they’re getting overpowered. As well-trained as the Rangers now are, 3 against 1 isn’t a fair fight. “We need to morph,” Jungkook grits out as he gets up from the ground after being kicked by a surprisingly powerful metal foot. “You guys ready?”

“Ready,” they respond.

“Everyone prepared for what we practised?” Hoseok says excitedly.

“Hoseok, you’re ruining the moment,” Lisa hisses. “We’re trying to make it professional, remember?”

Jungkook throws a hand forwards in an air punch, yelling “Power of the Rose!”

“Power of the Sunflower!” Lisa follows, throwing her arms in the air to form a more floaty, delicate pose. The others follow suit from left to right, shouting the name of their flower while striking a pose. (It’s a wonder the Blinks have paused their attack enough to let them pull of this morphing sequence, actually, but maybe its unexpectedness has left the monsters too confused to do much else.)

“Flowers…” the Power Rangers chorus, “bloom and conquer!” They tap the button on the side of their communicators as they shout the last three words, their Ranger suits covering them head to toe in milliseconds.

“Let’s flower up!” Hoseok adds unnecessarily.

“Hoseok, no,” Rosé says. “We added all this to _stop_ the flower up thing.”

“Let’s discuss it later,” Hoseok grins optimistically, before rushing off to fight the Blinks with renewed vigour.

Soon enough the Blinks are backing away, but the Rangers have a new problem on their hands. A black mountain of a monster has appeared, stalking towards them with charcoal goo dripping from its fingers. “Nice to meet you, Rangers,” it says graciously.

“Uh – you too?” Hoseok says hesitantly. “What?” he defends himself when he notices them all looking in his direction. “We’re not meant to escalate a fight unless the other side does first. I assumed that extends to fighting talk.”

“Hoseok, pay attention!” Rosé shouts. Yoongi manages to retrieve his Azalea Honey Blasters and shoot the vine down in record time, just before it wraps itself around Hoseok’s chest.

“What the fuck was that,” Jungkook breathes.

“Let’s not just stand here chatting,” the monster taunts. “I have so many plants I want to show you…”

“These things just get weirder and weirder,” Jungkook groans as he rushes forward, throwing his Thorn Daggers in the monster’s direction before following up with a three-kick combo.

Another vine shoots out and grabs Hoseok’s wrist, but Lisa gets out her Sunflower Sword and cuts it down right away. “Shit,” she exhales. “Is it too late to bail on this fight?”

“We can’t give up,” Yoongi argues. He shoots the monster with his Azalea Honey Blasters, which seems to deter it for a few seconds and then ultimately just make it angrier.

“There’d be no point,” the monster says – its first words in front of the Rangers. Its voice is deep and gravelly, not unlike Yoongi’s except for the fact that every word spoken sounds menacing, like a threat. “My name’s Creeper and I’ll be here to creep up on you, wherever you are. You can’t run and hide from me.”

“Anyone else feel like Halloween’s come a little early this year?” Rosé yelps as she dodges another vine shot her way. The vines are a thick dark brown and Jungkook doesn’t want to think about what could happen if one of them actually got caught. It’s almost as thick as his arm. Branches appear from nowhere out of Creeper’s fingertips and Lisa narrowly dodges being struck in the head by what could more accurately be described as a tree stump.

“Any ideas?” Hoseok shouts to Jungkook, barely dodging another pile of branches and leaves shot his way.

Jungkook gulps. “This one’s a bit more sinister than I’ve seen on the video games,” he calls back.

More vines, branches and leaves shoot from the monster’s hands continuously as they fight, and it quickly becomes clear that they’re just not cut out to win this round.

***

Taehyung walks towards their regular table, lunch tray balanced precariously on one hand. He has an amazing idea for how he’ll greet Jungkook today, and by amazing he obviously means ridiculous. It’s going to be so funny, he’ll never know what hit him –

Oh.

Taehyung can’t help the disappointment he feels when he approaches the table to find only 3 people sitting there. Jungkook isn’t one of them. Taehyung chews on his lower lip unconsciously.

“Where is he?” he asks as he sits down.

Changgu shrugs. “Thought he was with you.”

It’s another 20 minutes before Jungkook surfaces. “What are we talking about?” he asks when he reaches the table, voice casual and Taehyung turns to him indignantly.

“Where have you been?” he accuses. How can Jungkook just show up here like nothing’s out of the ordinary? Like he didn’t make Taehyung very confused (and a little worried) with his sudden disappearance?

Jungkook’s eyes widen in vague interest as he sits down. “Greeting me by starting an argument? That’s new. Very inventive.”

Taehyung gulps, sinking imperceptibly lower in his seat as he realises what little right he has to be mad. Jungkook doesn’t have to tell him where he is all the time. But he’s been acting odd lately and it sets Taehyung’s nerves on edge, realising that he doesn’t know why.

“Do you have a twig in your hair?” Shinwon asks Jungkook, and Taehyung turns his attention back to his best friend.

“What the fuck...” Taehyung matters as he picks the twig out. “What’s this from?”

Jungkook slaps the twig out of his hand, Taehyung watching as it falls pitifully to the floor. “The outside world,” Jungkook quips. “Don’t know if you’ve heard it.”

“What were you doing in the outside world when you should’ve been at lunch?” Yanan says curiously.

“I got lunch in town today,” Jungkook says. “Still hungry, though.”

Taehyung tries to squash down the feeling of betrayal at those words. “Could’ve told me,” he mumbles.

Jungkook gives him a strange look but doesn’t say anything in response, shoving food in his mouth at record speed.

***

“Can you believe that someone filmed the fight with Creeper?” Yoongi asks the next day at training. “It’s like we have no privacy.”

“I mean, we were in a public area and it was an extra-terrestrial fight involving both monsters and superheroes,” Hoseok says fairly. “I’d be surprised if someone _hadn’t_ filmed it.”

Rosé groans. “They filmed us getting completely thrashed. I’ve still got bruises everywhere.”

“We managed to avoid getting strangled,” Hoseok responds. “I’d call that a success.”

Jungkook snorts. “I think we need to set the bar a little higher than that. Okay, decision time – what’s the game plan? Maybe we could use our weapons more?”

“I don’t see how my weapon will be at _all_ useful for this,” Rosé says frustratedly. “What the hell am I supposed to do with a whip, anyway? It feels like Creeper’s mocking me, like its powers are the new and improved version of what I’m supposed to be able to do.”

Jungkook blinks. “Wait, you have a point there. Your whip has similar characteristics to Creeper’s vines. Maybe we can use that as a counterattack. If we’re able to tie up its hands, then it will stop shooting at us and we’ll stand a fighting chance.”

Yoongi nods. “Nice idea.”

Jungkook turns to him. “Your blasters seemed to have an effect on the monster. It’s a shame you couldn’t try it out more before the monster disappeared – but I think your shots that hit Creeper near the end were one of the reasons he deserted the fight instead of finishing us off. It almost looked like his hands were going to disintegrate or something.”

“So if tying his hands doesn’t work, we burn them off,” Yoongi asserts.

Lisa wrinkles her nose. “Can we stop being so graphic, please? It’s times like this when I really question if we’re the good guys or not.”

“Lisa, your sword is really useful too,” Jungkook says, ignoring her comment. “Cut down anything you can. And if we can’t avoid getting caught, you need to be the one to set us free. You and Yoongi are basically the rescue team, okay? So we need to cover you at all times. You’re the most important in this mission.”

Hoseok grins. “There’s a reason you’re the leader.”

Jungkook laughs. “I’m a gamer. This isn’t anything like the Power Rangers game, but I wasn’t thinking broadly enough before: I’ve played games like this all the time.” He smiles proudly. “Next time I’m online, I’ll pay more attention to our game tactics and see if we can implement some of them in real life.”

***

Taehyung is watching the Power Rangers fight footage while he and Jungkook are getting ready for tonight’s Halloween party. Someone called Yuta is hosting, a boy in their year who they see at a lot of parties even though they’re not that close. Last Jungkook checked, about 60 people were going. It’s a combined birthday and Halloween celebration, since Yuta’s birthday was only a few days ago, but the only real theme of the party is to look scary. Jungkook is dressed in an old ripped t-shirt, which is only ripped because it’s old and Jungkook doesn’t take care of his clothes properly (according to his mum at least, who points it out whenever she sees him wearing holey socks).

“This is awesome,” Taehyung says, eyes so close to his phone screen that it’s a surprise he hasn’t got a headache by now. Or permanent vision impairment.

“Yeah,” Jungkook agrees, not really paying attention. He’s looking in the mirror, trying to check that the bruises from the fight earlier this week aren’t too obvious. “Hey, can you go bug Yeeun for some black makeup? I think some eyeliner would make me look scarier.”

“Sure,” Taehyung says, putting his phone down. He comes back only a minute or so later holding about five different products – eyeliner, three shades of eyeshadow and a mascara, apparently. Jungkook goes to take them from him, but Taehyung holds them out of his reach, wiggling his eyebrows. “Nuh uh. She told me she’d only lend us the makeup under the condition that I did it for you.”

Jungkook stares at him incredulously. “Are you serious?”

Taehyung shrugs. “She doesn’t trust you with her makeup.”

“And she trusts _you?_ ” Jungkook asks. But he still agrees to sit down on the bed and tries his hardest not to move while Taehyung ruins his face.

Taehyung steps back and looks at him approvingly. “I did a great job.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

“Are you still staying round mine after the party? You might want to bring some makeup wipes,” Taehyung suggests. It’s pretty routine for Jungkook to come over after a late-night party because his parents are stricter about curfew than Taehyung’s, but it also helps that Taehyung’s parents like him. The first time Taehyung got drunk, Jungkook was the one to cut off his alcohol supply and get him home safe and he seems to have been in Taehyung’s parents’ good books ever since.

“Oh, good thinking.” Jungkook opens his mouth to ask, but Taehyung’s already on it.

“Yeeun!” he calls, walking out the door, and Jungkook chuckles to himself. He has no idea how Yeeun likes Taehyung more than him, considering Taehyung is definitely the more disgusting one, but it’s probably just the rule when it comes to siblings. Taehyung quickly returns with a small packet of makeup wipes which Jungkook promptly shoves in his jeans pocket. “You’re welcome, my friend.”

Jungkook grunts. “Yeah, yeah. Hey, we’ve still got half an hour before we need to leave, did you want to play something?”

“Always,” Taehyung says, jumping onto the bed. He lies on his front and holds out his hand for a controller. “Ripped shirts suit you,” he says casually after Jungkook chucks him a controller and turns on the console, and Jungkook almost trips over his own feet on his way back to the bed.

“Uh. Thanks?”

Taehyung laughs. “Welcome. Also you’ve got some real commitment putting fake cuts over your arms. Couldn’t relate.”

Jungkook blinks, then looks down at his cuts that are still exposed. He supposes it fits the Halloween theme, so Creeper’s attack had fortunate timing, all things considered.

***

“Thanks for helping out tonight,” Jimin says as they walk along the street, a spare bag of sweets and chocolates in his hands.

Hoseok grins. “I like babysitting. Anyway, your little brothers are cute.”

Jimin laughs, casting his eyes down to his younger brothers walking in front of them. They’re scoffing their faces full of chocolate as they walk, the excitement of trick-or-treating almost too much.

“Are you staying with for the family or coming back to mine?” Hoseok asks. It’s around 9pm, the streets in that weird in-between time when the last of the kids are coming home from trick-or-treating and young adults are starting to surface on their way to house parties.

Jimin hesitates. “Did Seokjin make pumpkin pie?”

Hoseok grins. “Yep.”

Jimin laughs. “Okay, I’ll come to yours.” They reach Jimin’s front door and he lets his brothers inside, calling a ‘be back in an hour!’ out to his parents. They turn around, walking back down the street together in companiable silence. “I hope you know I’m only coming because Seokjin will be disappointed otherwise,” Jimin says at some point.

“I don’t doubt it for a second,” Hoseok laughs. “He actually made extra this year because you always eat so much.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad!” Jimin protests. “It’s just really good.”

Hoseok opens his mouth to reply but the sudden beeping of his communicator interrupts his train of thought. He pauses in the middle of the street, Jimin frowning at him in confusion as Hoseok quickly taps a few buttons to find the location of the monster. Then his mouth drops open in shock and he looks up, eyes wide in horror. Jimin follows his gaze and almost collapses on the spot.

“Hoseok… what _is_ that?”

“I believe that’s Creeper,” Hoseok says, his voice calm and quiet for fear that he’ll give away their location. But Creeper doesn’t seem to have any particular plan to go after the Power Rangers, or indeed any plan at all right now with its attack: civilians are getting pinned against walls with thick mossy vines left, right and centre, the monster hardly stopping to see where its targets have ended up before moving onto the next.

“We should run away,” Jimin says decisively, and before Hoseok can warn him against it, Jimin bolts. Into plain sight.

“Wonderful, a new target!” Creeper shouts menacingly, turning to Jimin and Hoseok groans.

“Why do they keep going after Jimin,” he mutters as he runs after his best friend.

The plan is to protect him from Creeper or at least try to block the attacks, but it quickly transpires that Jimin doesn’t need Hoseok’s help. Vines, branches and twigs are shot at him at record speed but Jimin dodges everything coming his way. He leaps into the air over a vine that’s aimed to trap his feet and presses himself against a wall to avoid the log that’s hurtled at him seconds later.

Yoongi turns up at some point during Jimin’s display of acrobatics and stands by Hoseok, watching the scene in amazement. “Wow, Jimin’s really good at avoiding attacks.”

Hoseok nods. “He’s very agile. We used to dance together.”

Yoongi’s eyes widen. “Jimin used to dance?”

“Yeah, that’s how we met.” He throws Yoongi a confused look. “Why?”

“Uh – no reason,” Yoongi scrambles. “I’m just surprised.” His eyes are focused on the attack before him, the monster still shooting various plants after Jimin but to no avail. It’s a wonder he hasn’t been caught yet.

Hoseok frowns. “I know he’s studious, but that doesn’t mean he has no hobbies.”

Yoongi splutters. “I – I never thought he was boring –”

Creeper’s words cut him off, growling out “You think you can fool me?” Then a new vine appears from Creeper’s dripping black hands, this vine thicker than the rest; but it doesn’t shoot in Jimin’s direction. It grows, still attached to Creeper’s hands, and the vine hits Jimin, wrapping itself around his waist. Creeper lifts its hands and raises Jimin into the air.

“Aahhhh!” Jimin yells.

“Oh shit,” Hoseok says. “I didn’t know it could do that.”

Before Yoongi can respond, Lisa appears beside them with a “Hi! What did I miss?” She then looks up. “Woah. Is that Jimin flailing around up there?”

“Yep,” Hoseok responds. “Do you think you can reach those vines with your sword?”

“Doubt it,” Lisa mumbles, her expression uncertain. “I passed other people on the way here who I know I can set free, but they’re pinned to buildings and benches – you know, things on the ground.”

“Why _didn’t_ you set them free?” Yoongi frowns.

“I thought you might need some backup here first,” Lisa responds. “None of those attacks were fatal; they can wait.”

Rosé turns up a few seconds later, grumbling to herself, “Literally why does this keep happening when I’m trying to party.” She then follows her friends’ gazes. “What the hell…”

“I know,” Hoseok says. “We haven’t figured out what to do about him yet.” He pauses thoughtfully. “At least we know there haven’t been any new targets for the last couple minutes.”

Yoongi looks around worriedly. “Jungkook should be here by now.”

Rosé frowns. “Yeah, he should. We were at the same party and _he_ isn’t in heels. Wait, actually – I think he left earlier to get food from somewhere near here…?”

Hoseok grimaces. “Rosé, go look for him and check he hasn’t got trapped. I’m going to try and distract Creeper so that that monster can’t injure anyone else. Lisa and Yoongi, it’s time for the rescue mission.”

***

It should’ve been simple enough. Walk to the McDonald’s 10 minutes away, get some fast food, eat and walk back. Maybe walk back and eat at the party, or even eat while walking back. That part wasn’t essential. But they don’t even manage to reach the ‘McDonald’s’ phase of the plan.

Things are going normally at first, Taehyung complaining that they’re too hungry to be walking at this time of night and Jungkook complaining about having to spend the walk with Taehyung blabbering at his side… There are others with them, too; a couple of the girls Jungkook knows from Rosé’s friendship group, plus a few guys he doesn’t know so well. Their insignificant conversation about how there weren’t enough snacks at the party is cut off by a sudden screech next to Jungkook. He turns around, ready to punch Taehyung on the shoulder for being an idiot and frightening him – but this isn’t like that time at lunch. This time it isn’t just a prank.

There’s a thick, dark brown vine cutting across Taehyung’s chest, and Jungkook gapes as he watches the scene flash before him in the blink of an eye. Taehyung stares back at the monster with wide eyes, goes to shout something and then reaches to clutch at his throat in panic. But his arms are pinned to his sides, his body trapped against the wall.

The other people with them run away instinctively, but Jungkook’s instinct is different. He runs towards Creeper, the only thought in his head being “That’s my best friend, you arsehole!”

He manages to deliver a few punches to Creeper’s face before Creeper shoves him away full force, and without his Ranger suit Jungkook is powerless. He falls to the floor – and only at that moment does his communicator start beeping. “A bit fucking late,” he mutters before getting up. He quickly runs at Creeper again, aiming for a kick in the face. Suit or no suit, he’s not giving in without a fight.

He manages to distract Creeper enough to stop him hurting anyone else in the meantime, but then Creeper whacks him in the face with a gigantic leaf – which is much heavier than it looks, by the way – and in the time it takes Jungkook recover and move it away from his eyes, Creeper has disappeared down the street. “Fuck,” he mutters.

He knows he should follow. But whatever he’s been told about the Power Rangers duties coming first, Jungkook knows where his priorities lie when he turns back to Taehyung and sees him struggling. He runs over and he feels his heart catch in his throat when he realises that the vine isn’t just covering Taehyung chest but also his neck. “Shit. Taehyung, can you breathe?”

“Kind of,” Taehyung responds.

Jungkook exhales sharply. “Okay, don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. We’ll set you free from this.”

Taehyung laughs slightly. “You’re the one who’s worried, Kook. I’ll be fine.” He then winces and breathes in, a breath that seems to take far too much effort.

“Sure, you’re fine,” Jungkook says bitterly. How _dare_ Creeper go after Taehyung. He gets hold of the vine, tries tugging at it but it’s no use. He doesn’t even know if his Thorn Daggers would be strong enough to cut through this – where’s Lisa with her Sunflower Sword when you need her?

***

Yoongi and Lisa’s rescue mission is nothing other than a success: with the three of them now morphed, Hoseok distracts Creeper from hurtling Jimin through the air whilst Lisa and Yoongi work on freeing some of the nearby victims.

“Well if negotiation won’t work…” they hear Hoseok say from nearby, before he starts attacking in earnest. Creeper kicks back a slobbery charcoal foot in retaliation and Jimin does an involuntary somersault in the air.

“Jimin won’t survive this if the monster’s fighting Hoseok,” Yoongi says worriedly. “Creeper isn’t watching where its hands are pointing, he could catapult to the floor.”

“Do you think you can reach the vines coming from Creeper’s hands with your blasters?” Lisa asks hurriedly.

Yoongi nods slowly. “Worth a shot.”

He aims his Azalea Honey Blasters into the sky and directs them towards the vines. He shoots upwards, hoping for the best: he’s never tried them at this far a distance before. But sure enough, the toxic honey reaches the vines, and with Creeper distracted fighting the Blue Ranger, it isn’t long before the vines either side of Jimin are completely seared.

He realises the issue with that a little late.

“He’s falling!” Lisa screams as Yoongi rushes forwards.

– and Jimin falls directly into Yoongi’s arms.

“He’s running away,” Hoseok yells somewhere in the distance, even as Yoongi’s thoughts are elsewhere. “I’ll follow Creeper, you get him home. Yellow, you’re with me!”

Yoongi looks down at Jimin as Hoseok and Lisa run off. “Let’s stand to the side and set you free.” He puts Jimin down and leads him to the side, hand wrapped round his wrist. Jimin still looks pretty out of it. Yoongi’s careful with the blasters, but his aim is definitely better up close and he’s quickly able to split the vine still wrapped around Jimin’s waist. Once there’s a clean split, it falls to the floor and Yoongi exhales in relief. “Right, time to get you to safety. Where do you live?”

Jimin gives him the address, still looking a bit startled. So Yoongi picks him up and starts running. The training they’ve been doing has clearly helped, Yoongi realises as he runs with Jimin on his back, although the power in his suit certainly adds to his endurance. Soon enough they’re outside Jimin’s front door. He rings the doorbell and there’s a flurry of voices from inside.

“Thank you so much,” Jimin mumbles. “You saved my life tonight… How can I ever repay you?”

“Tell everyone I’m not a girl,” Yoongi replies. Then he puts Jimin down and runs back to the fight.

***

Creeper reappears around the corner, tailed by the Blue Ranger, and Jungkook feels a stronger sense of anger coursing through him. “Why can’t I hear you breathing,” he mumbles warily to Taehyung as he pulls more forcefully at the vines. He doesn’t have to set him free: if he can just loosen it a little…

“It’s hard,” Taehyung forces out. “I think it’s suffocating me.”

Nothing is working and Jungkook is trying his hardest not to panic. He isn’t the most calm-headed person at the best of times, but the alcohol he’s had tonight certainly isn’t helping.

“Jungkook! Jungkook, is that you?”

Jungkook turns around and looks at Rosé with wide eyes. “Rosé!” he shouts over to her. Stepping out of the way so she can see for herself, he adds, “They’ve got Taehyung!”

Jungkook can’t hear her from how far they’re stood apart, but he sees her lips form two words that look a lot like “Oh shit.” She then turns and runs away, presumably to morph out of sight.

“She didn’t have the courage to fight the monster for me like you did,” Taehyung mumbles and Jungkook looks at him worriedly.

“Tae, this thing is literally strangling you slowly. Please don’t waste your breath on stupid comments.”

Taehyung looks at him softly. “Why do you think all my comments are stupid?”

And for a second, one stupid second, Jungkook wants to tell him. _They’re never stupid, nothing about you is stupid. You’re perfect and I’ve always thought so. I love you._

Then the Power Rangers turn up and Taehyung loses his shit. “Oh my _God_ , it’s the Power Rangers, what the hell, I can’t believe we’re seeing them in real life, _Jungkook_ , are you _seeing_ this?!”

Jungkook turns around to face them and tries to look surprised.

“We’re going to need you to move out the way,” the Purple Ranger says as she approaches them, gesturing for Jungkook to move.

“Is this really happening?” Taehyung whimpers. “I’ve been waiting for this moment so long and now it feels like I don’t have time to prepare –”

“Taehyung, shut the fuck up, you’re wasting your breath,” Jungkook mutters in warning before he moves out the way.

“Hi, what’s your name?” the Purple Ranger asks, and Jungkook almost laughs as Taehyung grins shyly and tells her his name. Rosé’s letting him have his 5 minutes of celebrity attention before cutting him free. (He’s full of both respect and contempt for her in this moment. Can’t she make him all starry eyed _after_ she’s saved him from suffocation?)

“Excuse me, sir, but we need you to leave,” the Pink Ranger says to Jungkook, also appearing beside them. “We’ve got our hands full fighting and rescuing and we can’t afford to have any more casualties in the area.” Jungkook has to hand it to him, Yoongi’s acting skills are top notch. But he also has a point. The meaning is clear: they need Jungkook’s help. He glances over to where Lisa is chopping down any new branches and vines shooting from Creeper’s hands and then to where Hoseok is trying to deflect the attacks that do get through with his Throwing Stars. He needs to get out there, and fast.

“Good luck, Tae,” Jungkook says breathlessly to his best friend. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

He rushes off out of sight, hearing Taehyung’s voice call after him “Wait, take a picture of us together!” as he goes. Jungkook rolls his eyes. He taps on his communicator, checks everything’s in order and then shout-whispers “Power of the Rose! Flowers, bloom and conquer!”

He has to admit, it sounds a little anticlimactic as a whisper. But they agreed as a group to do it from now on and there’s no point in having a routine if they don’t stick to it, right? Besides, saying nothing at all would feel too empty.

He’s getting side-tracked. He looks down at his hands, now concealed in red gloves, and clenches them into fists. It’s time to get out there and get rid of this monster for good.

***

The plan works well: Lisa finishes cutting down the vines and setting people free and in the meantime, with Jungkook and Hoseok’s help distracting Creeper, Rosé is able to tie up its hands. Yoongi appears soon after, searing Creeper’s fingertips with an enthusiasm that makes Jungkook a little wary.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Yoongi taunts fifteen minutes or so later as the monster explodes into a ball of fire.

A statement that will clearly come back to bite him. Because, as they are all apparently prone to forgetting, Creeper isn’t gone just yet: the monster is growing at an alarming rate.

“Let’s call the Zords,” Jungkook shouts to his teammates. He’s confident until they get inside their Hybrid Flower Zord. “Oh fuck,” he mutters when he registers the positions they’re in. Rosé and Hoseok are to his right, and Lisa and Yoongi are to his left. That can only mean one thing: “I’m the brains again.”

“Lord help us all,” Rosé groans.

Meanwhile Jungkook is looking at the control panel in confusion. “This would really be a lot better if I wasn’t tipsy.”

“Okay, seriously, we’re making someone who isn’t _sober_ the brains,” Lisa says, rightfully agitated. “Who planned this?” She kicks out the Zord’s left foot to hold the monster back.

“I swear to God, if super-sized vines can shoot from Creeper’s super-sized hands then we’re done for,” Rosé says seriously. “You know, I think I’ve had enough super-size for life by this point. Actually, scratch that, I could really do with some super-size fries right about now.”

Yoongi grimaces. “You’re tipsy too, aren’t you.”

“We were at the same party,” Rosé grumbles. “Let me live.”

“Hoseok, take over Rosé’s controls if she starts lagging,” Jungkook says. “And as for me… well, I’ll just do what I always do. Hit random buttons and hope for the best.”

“How does this never get any easier,” Lisa mumbles as they start fighting in earnest.

They think they’ve got lucky, for a second, the most damaging thing forming from Creeper’s fingertips being a large leaf that momentarily obscures their vision, but then all hell breaks loose. “The vines are back,” Hoseok shouts in panic. “Namjoon! Any help?”

“I’m on it,” Namjoon’s voice calls back. “Uh… okay. Try the button to your left, Jungkook. It should look like a black fingerprint?”

“No, your _left,_ ” Hoseok hisses when Jungkook reaches towards him.

“Oh shit, sorry,” Jungkook says in realisation, turning to the other side. Yoongi and Lisa are both looking at him, probably in concern for either his safety or the planet’s safety, but he ignores them. “Black fingerprint,” he mumbles as he locates it. “Right! Got it!” He hits the button and looks out of the window in front see what the button’s done.

“Jungkook, it’s not out there, it’s in front of us,” Lisa says, the excitement audible in her voice. Five small machines have popped down from the ceiling of their combined Zord and are hanging right above where each of them is stationed.

Lisa is the first to try it, reaching out her hand and pressing her index finger to the screen in front of her. “How could that work through the suit?” Hoseok questions interestedly.

“The suits are made of nano-fibre,” Namjoon explains. “They adjust themselves to your body shape and are ultra-powerful, even while remaining thin and fitted. In other words, they’re designed to be as unintrusive as possible.”

“So the fingerprints can be read even through the suit,” Yoongi translates. “That’s awesome. This is some truly state-of-the-art material.”

“And the function of the fingerprint machine?” Jungkook asks as he presses a button to make the Zord jump into the air. They’re going to get trapped by a vine in a second if they’re not careful.

The grin is audible in Lisa’s voice when she answers, “Super-sized weapons.” And sure enough, the Zord is now holding a gigantic Sunflower Sword, ready to cut down any more plants that come their way.

“Amazing,” Rosé breathes. “This really looks like something out of a sci-fi film, you know.”

“We know,” Hoseok says comfortingly. “Just stand there and try not to think too much.”

“I’m not _that_ tipsy,” Rosé complains, shoving Hoseok’s hand away from where he’d been going to pat her on the shoulder.

“Guys, concentrate!” Lisa shouts. Rosé punches the monster in the face just in time.

“Think we need a stronger attack,” Yoongi says as he reaches his hand up to the fingerprint-reader, watching as an Azalea Honey Blaster appears in the Zord’s left hand.

“Perfect,” Jungkook says in admiration.

“How on earth did Namjoon have time to build these gigantic weapons?” Rosé queries as they keep fighting. It feels distinctly like they have the upper hand now, and knowing that gives them the confidence and energy they need to fight even harder.

“I’m always working on things behind the scenes,” Namjoon answers.

“Whoops,” Rosé chuckles. “Forgot you could hear us.”

“You’re doing great,” Namjoon continues encouragingly. “I don’t think it’ll be long now.”

“You can see us as well?” Jungkook asks in surprise.

Namjoon chuckles. “Not exactly. I can see what you’re seeing; I installed a camera in the Zord. You’ve got this, Rangers! Creeper’s clearly getting exhausted.”

Namjoon isn’t wrong. It’s only another few minutes before Creeper is destroyed once and for all.

***

Jungkook knocks on the door, hoping that Taehyung managed to make it home safe. It’s only been about an hour since Jungkook disappeared from the scene of the crime to morph and fight the monster himself.

“Fuck,” Taehyung says when he opens the door and sees Jungkook stood there. He pulls him into a hug before Jungkook has a chance to reply.

A few seconds later, Taehyung steps back, letting him go, and Jungkook raises an eyebrow. “Bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

Taehyung shrugs. “You disappeared while there was a crazy Halloween monster killing spree.”

Jungkook blinks. “Killing spree?” Fucking _shit_ , he thought they’d cut everyone free –

“Ah, well. I don’t think anyone actually died. But you know. It was _intense_.”

Jungkook exhales in relief. “You can say that again.”

“It was _intense_.”

Jungkook sighs tiredly. “Years of being your friend and I never learn that you’ll take me literally when I say that.”

“It means my jokes never get old,” Taehyung boasts.

Jungkook huffs out a laugh. “It means the opposite.”

“It means my jokes always get new,” Taehyung interprets.

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “You’re incapable of a normal conversation, aren’t you?”

“Come on Kooks,” Taehyung grins toothily, “you’re not friends with me because you want someone normal.”

Jungkook laughs. He certainly has a point. Taehyung is the most extraordinary person he knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really curious, who’s your favourite character so far?


	5. belladonna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisoo is sent down to Earth to distract the Red Ranger but ends up distracting the Yellow Ranger instead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s lisoo time!! I’m hype

“I can’t believe no one believes me that I met the Power Rangers,” Taehyung laments as they walk home.

Jungkook grins. “Your fault for being so dramatic about it.”

“It _was_ dramatic,” Taehyung argues. “You should know; you were there. Not that you were paying much attention,” he says, phrasing it like a jab.

“Well yeah, I was a little concerned about your air supply being cut off,” Jungkook says flatly. “Are you really complaining at me for caring about your safety?”

“And whose fault is that?” Taehyung challenges.

“Uh, yours for getting caught?” Jungkook shoots back.

Taehyung snorts. “You’re just jealous _you_ didn’t get caught by a monster.”

Jungkook squints at him. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Sure it does, you’re fame-hungry –”

“Nope,” Jungkook cuts in. “Still you.”

“Seriously, how are you not boasting about it? It was _incredible.”_

“Really, Taehyung? You could have died.”

“Who’s being dramatic now?”

Jungkook laughs, short and sharp. “Are you always like this?”

“Duh,” Taehyung says. “Do you even know me?”

“Who says ‘duh’ these days?” Jungkook questions. “Have you been hanging out with Yeeun?”

Taehyung wiggles an eyebrow. “Wow, you saw right through me. I was channelling my inner teenage girl.”

“Right, yeah, because we’ve all got one of those.”

“Glad you relate.”

“It’s called sarcasm –”

“We’re here!” Taehyung chirps, cutting off the conversation. And only then does Jungkook register his surroundings.

“This is your house,” he says flatly.

Taehyung looks at him hopefully. “Tuesday night equals video game night.”

“That’s the most maths I’ve ever seen you do,” Jungkook says.

“It’s not maths, it’s algebra.”

Jungkook blinks. “You worry me sometimes, you know that?”

Taehyung grins. “I’ll take that response as you accepting the invite.”

***

Jennie taps her pen against the screen, signifying the conclusion of the presentation. “Bottom line is that the Red Ranger has stepped up, and the more competent a leader he becomes, the less chance we have to defeat the whole group.”

“So we need to split them apart? Maybe intervene in their friendship?” Jisoo suggests as they both try to ignore Sungjin’s incessant pacing round the lobby area of the spaceship. (His shoes are clunky and loud so neither of them are particularly succeeding.)

Jennie hums noncommittally in reply as Sungjin responds, “We already tried that. Removing Hoseok from the group didn’t have as drastic consequences as we’d hoped.” He pauses his step, an awed expression taking over his face as if he’s had an epiphany. “But what if we don’t just remove Jungkook from the Power Rangers team? What if we get rid of him altogether?”

“Are you saying we should take him out?” Jennie asks. There’s a prominent frown on her face – an expression starkly similar to the one Sungjin’s wearing. “Because no offence, but that’s what we’ve been trying to do this whole time.”

“Jungkook isn’t holding the group together through friendship,” Jisoo replies, taking over the computer to flick back through Jennie’s slides. “They trust him because he makes the right decision for the group. So we need to impede that decision-making process.”

“We don’t have to take him out to do that,” Jennie agrees, tapping her pen against her cheek as she thinks it through. “We just need to distract him. Enough that he can’t think about forming a plan; enough that his Ranger duties come second to whatever’s bothering him.”

“What could be distracting enough to distract a Power Ranger from fighting our monsters?” Sungjin scoffs.

Jisoo fiddles with the presentation slides for a moment before putting it full screen again on the projector, looking at the design of pink and red hearts proudly as she says, “Love.”

***

Jungkook sighs as he, Rosé and Lisa leave the classroom. “Well that was exhausting.”

“You’re telling me,” Rosé says. “I swear this one class is giving me more stress than all my others combined.”

“It’s just a small test,” Lisa says pragmatically.

“Well, we all but failed the presentation,” Rosé says, her voice getting squeakier as she speaks, “so now we have to ace this test or we’re doomed.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jungkook says consolingly.

“Yes it is!” Rosé argues. “If we fail all the small things then we fail altogether.”

Jungkook pauses as they walk out of the humanities building and into the open air, letting the comment sink in. “Huh. You’re right, this is pretty bad.” He hesitates. “Well actually, that depends on _how much_ our presentation sucked. We didn’t get told an official mark for it. What did you think of it, Lisa?”

Lisa hesitates for a second before saying, “It was really bad.”

Jungkook looks at her in surprise. “Wow. I really expected you to sugar-coat it.”

Lisa shrugs helplessly. “It didn’t seem like you were really interested in what you were talking about.”

“That’s because we weren’t,” Rosé says frustratedly. “I wanted to take a fresh, topical approach and talk about the Power Rangers’ mythology and give a comparison with its real-life expression in modern day times,” she sighs. “But all of the online sources were unreliable and Jaehyung wouldn’t tell me anything when I asked. He was literally the least helpful he could’ve been. If he actually knows anything about it then for some reason he’s determined not to tell _me_.”

“Don’t take it too personally,” Lisa says consolingly. “That probably would’ve been too broad to fit into a short presentation, anyway. At least you kept it short and sweet.”

“Short and sweet, that’s right,” Rosé grumbles as they take a turning out of the school gates onto the main road, the traffic noises getting louder by the second. She imitates the teacher’s voice as she says, “ _It was a bit… brief_.”

“I did a lot of research for that,” Jungkook says, put out.

“But we tanked it, so what are you expecting recognition for?”

“Look at it this way,” Lisa suggests, “you managed to save the world from a creepy Halloween monster and then deliver a decent piece of work only a couple days later. It really wasn’t that bad, you know? You just had your priorities.”

“Says the person who already told us our presentation was pretty bad,” Rosé laughs. “But you’re right, I guess there were worse things that could’ve happened.”

“I just don’t know why the test was announced right after,” Jungkook mutters. “At least give us a break.”

“It’s been a couple of weeks,” Lisa says fairly.

“I swear I don’t have nearly as much work for my other subjects,” Jungkook laments, ignoring her comment.

“You probably do,” Rosé comments. “You just don’t have me and Lisa nagging you about it all the time.”

Lisa laughs. “Hey, I’m not nagging, that’s your thing. I’m just here to answer your questions and show you the books.”

“Okay, then answer this: how do I pass the test?” Jungkook says, starting to feel a little uneasy. What can he say, Rosé’s worries are clearly spreading to him.

“Revision is the only way,” Lisa tells him regretfully.

“Then we know where we’re going,” Rosé states, her lips pursed in determination as she starts walking quicker. The others hurry to catch up and Jungkook promptly bumps into a woman who’s stood still in the middle of the street.

“Shit, sorry,” Jungkook mutters as he sidesteps around her. She opens her mouth to reply, but Jungkook is already gone.

“Watch where you’re going,” Rosé scoffs to him.

“That one hundred percent wasn’t my fault, but okay,” Jungkook mutters back.

They then realise that Lisa’s missing, so they duck under the canopy of a nearby shop to wait for her. “Are you okay?” she’s saying to the girl in the street.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” the girl smiles embarrassedly.

“You look a little lost,” Lisa continues. “Did you need help finding something?”

“Actually, do you know where the nearest museum is?” the girl asks.

“Yeah,” Lisa smiles. “Walk down to the end of this street, then turn left, then take the second right. You should see the entrance from there, it’s just down the road.”

“Thank you so much!” the girl says, with a bright smile that leaves Lisa slightly taken aback. “I’m Jisoo, by the way.”

Lisa blinks in surprise. People don’t usually introduce themselves in the city like this – but it’s pretty clear the girl isn’t from round here. It’s refreshing, reminding her a little of her life before she moved to England. “I’m Lisa.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jisoo says, before disappearing.

“That was strange,” Rosé comments when Lisa reaches them.

“It was like she purposely walked into me,” Jungkook grumbles as they walk.

Lisa frowns. “She just didn’t know where she was going. It’s easy to feel a bit out of place somewhere like this, where everything looks the same.”

“You’ve been here for years,” Rosé laughs.

Lisa shrugs helplessly. “It was confusing when I first moved here. I just don’t want anyone else to go through that alone.”

“Where are we going?” Jungkook asks.

“My house?” Rosé asks. “We need to study for that test.”

“We only got told about it today,” Jungkook points out. “Are you really going to start revising straight away? We still have two weeks.”

“You cram for everything and you wonder why you don’t do well.”

“Actually, I can’t study with you right now,” Lisa cuts in. “I have volunteering, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Rosé realises. “God, with that and training, how do you find time to get any work done?”

“Training is my socialisation time as well,” Lisa points out with a small smile. “I don’t have as much to juggle as you.”

Rosé raises an eyebrow, a smile playing at her lips. “Is that a kind way of saying I spend too much time with friends and not enough on my studies?”

“I didn’t say anything!” Lisa laughs. “If that’s your interpretation, it says more about you than about me.”

“Touché.” They reach the library entrance and Rosé goes in for an impulsive hug. She then steps back almost awkwardly. “Um. That was weird. But we’re friends, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Lisa says instinctively. She waves goodbye to Jungkook and heads inside, greeting Namjoon before going to the back room to get her name tag. She’s been in England for years, but only now is she really starting to feel like she’s found her place.

***

Taehyung catches up to Jungkook and Yanan as they’re leaving school the following day. “Gaming tonight, lads?”

Yanan shakes his head. “Can’t tonight, sorry.”

Taehyung turns to Jungkook hopefully. “Kookie?”

“You know we have football training after school today,” Jungkook says regretfully. Between Ranger training, studying and football practise, it’s been hard to catch a break lately.

“I can see that you’re wearing your sports kits,” Taehyung says flatly. “I’m not dumb. Contrary to popular opinion.”

Jungkook snorts.

“Anyway, I obviously mean _after_ training.”

“I’ve got too much work to get through tonight,” Yanan says sadly. “Wish I could join.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jungkook says, latching onto the excuse easily. “Another time?”

“No shit,” Taehyung says. “You can’t ditch me that easily. I’ll come ambush you when you least expect it if you keep ditching me like this.”

Jungkook laughs. “I don’t doubt it for a second.”

***

“Hey, thanks for coming over,” Jungkook says the following day as he lets Lisa inside. “I can’t concentrate on my own.”

“No problem,” Lisa says. She gets out her books and spreads them across the table, hiding an amused smile at the dread apparent on Jungkook’s face. “Is Rosé busy? I thought you two would be studying together.”

“You know earlier this week when you ditched our study group for volunteering?” He waits for her nod before continuing, “We studied together then and apparently I was ‘too irritating to work with’. So now she’s doing everything on her own.”

Lisa laughs. “Oh yeah, she did tell me about that! She said she finds you off-putting.”

“What does that even mean?” Jungkook questions, more to himself than to her, so Lisa ignores him.

“Shall we get started?”

They’re half an hour into working when Jungkook asks if they can take a break. “We’ve hardly done anything,” Lisa responds, her head still buried in a book.

“But I’m bored,” Jungkook complains.

“You’re like a small child,” Lisa comments.

Jungkook sighs. “Don’t you start. It’s like I’ve found another Rosé.”

Lisa chuckles. “It’s called honesty. Okay, how’s this – I test you on the things we’ve looked at so far and if you get them all right, we can take a break.”

It’s another 20 minutes before Jungkook manages to give an accurate answer to each of her questions. At long last, he sighs and closes the book with a flourish, leaning back in his chair.

“Don’t do that, you’ll fall,” a voice says from the corner of the room and Jungkook jumps in surprise, almost falling. Lisa stifles a laugh.

“Shit, mum, you scared me,” Jungkook groans once he regains his balance.

“Don’t swear,” she responds automatically – in such a nonchalant way that it suggests this conversation must happen all the time and he never takes note of her advice. “Who’s this?” she continues, gesturing to the extra person in the room.

“Oh, this is Lisa,” Jungkook says. “We’re studying together. She’s in my History class.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lisa says.

“Well don’t forget to give yourselves a break,” his mother suggests, and Lisa immediately sees why Jungkook has such a short attention span. “It’s a lovely day out there – you should go out and soak up some warmth in the garden! It isn’t often we have a sunny day like this in November.”

Lisa’s eyes widen in interest. “You have a garden?”

It isn’t too common to have gardens around this area, everything too built up and cramped to really have room for it. Out of all Jungkook’s friends, he’s the only one who has a garden, but since they spend the majority of their time playing video games inside it’s never been something Jungkook has particularly paid attention to.

“We do,” his mother laughs lightly. “It’s my favourite part of the house. Jungkook, do show her the garden, will you?”

“Sure,” Jungkook says, already standing up. Lisa eyes him warily.

“If you’re hoping I’ll get distracted with the garden and forget to come back to History revision, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“At least let me hope,” Jungkook says. “Come on, let’s go outside. You want to, right?”

“Duh,” Lisa says with a grin. “Have you met me?”

Jungkook blinks, immediately reminded of his conversation with Taehyung earlier that week, and for a split second he wonders if Lisa has also been hanging out with Yeeun. But that obviously doesn’t make any sense and so he tries to stop his thoughts becoming centred on Taehyung. It makes sense when they’re hanging out together, but otherwise it feels a little excessive.

“These are so pretty,” Lisa says in amazement once they’re outside, her fingertips brushing the petals of an alstroemeria. “I’ve only seen these in flower shops before.” She moves onto another plant that Jungkook doesn’t know the name of, admiring it. “Did you have someone design this space? It’s so put together.”

Jungkook shakes his head. “It’s all my mum. She basically spends all her time out here when it’s warm enough.” It’s expensive to have garden space in an area like this and for the most part Jungkook doesn’t understand why his mother thinks it’s worth it. But when his parents moved here, she’d made a big point of not moving anywhere she couldn’t see flowers blooming in the spring – her favourite season – from outside the window. So they compromised on the budget and got a place with a garden.

“Your mum is iconic,” Lisa decides.

Jungkook snorts. “Great, I’ll tell her that.”

“I’m serious! I hope you know I’ll be coming back for gardening tips. I help my grandma out with her garden, mainly at the weekends nowadays, but I always struggle keeping things going over autumn and winter.”

Contrary to what Lisa promised, she does get distracted enough in the garden that she forgets to come back to the History books. _Almost._

They’re outside for an hour and half before Lisa realises the time, stating that they should do another hour of work before she heads home. “I’m surprised you didn’t get bored just looking at flowers the whole time,” she says conversationally as they move onto a new topic in their revision.

“I did,” Jungkook says. “But I would have got more bored being in here doing work.”

Lisa squints at him. “You should really try to find the fun in things you spend your time on.”

“Or I can just work now so that I can have fun later,” Jungkook suggests.

“Well that works, but it also doesn’t seem very you.”

Jungkook laughs. “Stop judging me. Let’s just finish the topic and then enjoy the rest of our Saturday. I’m meant to start gaming in an hour.”

***

Lisa is walking home when she sees the girl from the other day out of the corner of her eye. She looks over to her automatically – the girl’s pretty, undeniably so, and her black hair is gently waving in the breeze.

There isn’t an abundance of places to sit in the park, but Lisa still finds it a funny coincidence that Jisoo chose this spot in particular. It’s near the park gates, usually a little out of Lisa’s way when she’s walking between her house and her grandma’s house, but it’s still one of her favourite places.

Lisa doesn’t really realise that she’s still looking until Jisoo turns to her and smiles. She takes that as an invitation to go over and say hello. “This area wasn’t originally meant to be part of the park,” she says in greeting as she sits on the bench.

Jisoo looks at her in surprise. “No?”

Lisa shakes her head, a small smile on her face. “There was some building work going on a few years ago and the developers wanted to build houses here, too. But it’s such an important spot for the wildlife – you don’t get this many plants and trees just anywhere in the city, plus there’s a little pond over there.” She points to a nearby corner and Jisoo’s gaze follows her fingers. “The locals campaigned to get this part protected as part of a nature conservation effort.”

Jisoo’s gaze settles onto the trees in front of them. “I’m glad they left this place intact. I’m not used to so many buildings everywhere, it’s a bit overwhelming. I’m used to seeing more space. Green space,” she clarifies with an awkward chuckle. _Cute._

“Did you move here recently?” Lisa asks. “You also seemed a bit disoriented when I met you before.”

“I haven’t moved here, I’m just visiting,” Jisoo explains.

“Ah, I see,” Lisa says. She could easily let things settle into a comfortable silence – she isn’t the most talkative person and she enjoys peace and quiet – but for some reason she wants to keep talking to Jisoo. “Did you find what you were looking for earlier?” She can’t remember the place Jisoo asked after, but she hopes her directions were accurate enough. It’s not a nice feeling, being lost in the city.

Jisoo gives her a funny look, one Lisa can’t quite read, and says, “Yeah, I think I found it.”

Lisa looks back at her, something unfamiliar but not unpleasant dancing around in her stomach, until she blinks and the moment is gone.

“Were you one of the campaigners?” Jisoo asks.

“Huh?” Lisa says gormlessly.

Jisoo smiles, a short breath coming out of her mouth which Lisa assumes is a silent laugh. Most likely _at_ her, but, well. Jisoo is very pretty so she lets it slide. “One of the people who campaigned against the park being developed?”

“Oh,” Lisa says. “Yeah, I was. But there were a lot of us. Strength in numbers, as they say. I’m just glad that the council listened. It would have been such a shame to turn such a beautiful area into brick and concrete.”

“For someone who likes nature so much, it’s kind of surprising you live in the city.”

Lisa shrugs. “We used to live more rurally, back in Thailand. That’s where I’m from.”

“Ah,” Jisoo says softly. “So you know what it’s like to be new.”

Lisa smiles comfortingly. “Yeah, I’d say I know it quite well. It can be overwhelming, right?”

Jisoo sighs. “I feel so out of my element. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be doing here.”

Lisa hums. “Life can be a bit like that, I find.”

Jisoo surprises her by chuckling softly. “That’s very wise of you.”

Lisa grins bashfully. “It’s all the reading I do, I think. My grandma always tells me I’m old before my time.”

Jisoo’s eyes light up, amused, and Lisa can’t tear her gaze away. “Are you mentally the same age, then?”

Lisa’s eyes widen in surprise, not having thought of it like that. “I guess so. I’ll have to ask her about it when I next see her.”

Jisoo smiles, her expression settling into something calmer. “You’re very easy to talk to.”

Lisa smiles back. “You too.” She breathes in the scent of the flowers around her, the honeydew on the nearby trees, the cold fresh air of mid-November. And she turns back to face the trees, eyes straight ahead as she takes in the scenery more purposefully this time. She should leave soon, probably, but she’s sure she can afford a few more minutes. “What brings you here, by the way? To the city?”

“Work,” Jisoo answers after a moment’s pause. “My family and I are close. It’s, uh, I guess you could call it a family business. We haven’t had much success so far, though.”

“That sounds interesting,” Lisa says. “I can’t imagine working with my family,” she adds with a chuckle. “What sort of area are you working in?”

“Right now I’m doing research,” Jisoo replies. “Uh, market research. It’s kind of a psychology thing?”

“Seems smart.”

“So do you.”

Lisa looks at her in surprise. “Oh. Uh…”

Jisoo smiles gently. “You said you like reading a lot. Is that why you seem like such an open book?”

Lisa shrugs a little in response. “I’m not difficult to get to know. Most people just don’t try.”

Jisoo turns to face forwards again. “It’s hard, finding genuine people in the city.”

Lisa sighs. “Yeah.”

Jisoo stands up. “I should head home, I’m getting cold.” She offers a hand and Lisa takes it, ignoring the way her fingers tingle at the touch. Now is not the time to start getting flustered and butcher the conversation.

“Which way are you headed?” Lisa asks – very coherently, by the way. Her cheeks aren’t flushed pink, either. Or if they are, it’s just because the evening wind is picking up. Blushing is _not_ a word in Lisa’s extensive vocabulary.

“I’m going this way,” Jisoo points in the opposite direction to where Lisa hoped.

“Ah, I’m going the other way,” she says regretfully. They let go of each other’s hands, probably much too late to be normal, not that either of them address it. “I hope I’ll see you around,” Lisa adds.

Jisoo smiles again, a small, reserved one compared to her bright and gentle smiles earlier in the conversation. “I’m sure you will.”

***

“Time for a progress report,” Jennie says excitedly once Jisoo is back safely on the spaceship. “How’s it going down there?” Her eyes are lit up, anticipating, and Jisoo understands the subtext to the question. All they’ve known for the longest time was this spaceship. It’s a breath of fresh air – quite literally – to experience, or even hear about, somewhere new.

“I’ll give a more in-depth report later,” Jisoo promises. “But the bottom line is that the Red Ranger is not getting distracted by me at all. I literally bumped into him so that he’d notice me and he still practically saw right through me.”

Sungjin frowns. “That’s a little odd.”

“It is,” Jisoo says helplessly. “I’ve seen him another two times since, even swayed my hips and flicked my hair, and he didn’t notice. The even weirder thing is that the Yellow Ranger seems to want to hang out with me now. I guess she was paying more attention the day I met them.”

Sungjin shrugs. “Well it doesn’t matter who it is – just distract the Yellow Ranger instead. Anyone works.”

“Aw, but I don’t want to mess with her,” Jisoo says instinctively, starting to smile as she remembers their conversation the other day. “She’s so cute and nice.”

“Fine,” Sungjin snaps. “If you can’t do anything right then just stay here. What’s done is done.”

Jisoo falters. She was only just starting to get used to the fresh air on Earth and now it feels almost like she’s being locked up again, all movement restricted. It was starting to feel nice, being out in the open with nowhere to report back and the world to discover.

“Give me some more time,” she decides. “If I keep talking to Lisa I’m sure I can find a way to break her. Or at least get into her thoughts and stop her thinking straight.” It’s part of her mission, her intention all along, but speaking the words aloud feels almost like betrayal. Lisa seems nice so far. Jisoo doesn’t really want to hurt her.

“You won’t have to distract her for long, anyway,” Jennie pipes up. “The new monster’s almost ready. I’m just finalising some things.”

Sungjin nods contemplatively. “Okay, you can go back down. But don’t come back until you’ve made progress.”

Jisoo gulps, but nods. It’s a tall ask: she has nowhere to stay in the city, and no money to get by. She sees Jennie shoot her a concerned look as she presses the button to send her back to Earth.

***

“Gaming tonight?” Taehyung asks Jungkook in their Computer Science class.

Jungkook shakes his head. “Football again.”

“Shit,” Taehyung says. “I’m going to have to start booking in advance, aren’t I?”

Jungkook snorts. “About time. Stop forcing yourself on me.”

Taehyung pretends to look at his textbook. “But that’s what best friends are for.”

“Your values are warped,” Jungkook tells him.

“Your face is warped,” Taehyung retorts.

Jungkook stifles a laugh. “Your comebacks are warped.”

Taehyung hums. “Yeah, that wasn’t one of my best.”

“At the back,” the teacher says, voice raised. “Are you planning to pay attention at any point today?”

“Sorry,” Taehyung pipes up, pulling his textbook closer to him on the desk so that the teacher will believe he’s really sorry. It’s an old trick, but somehow it works.

“I still don’t get how the teachers like you,” Jungkook whispers, but when the teacher shoots him a glare he shuts up.

***

Jungkook is heading to the changing rooms to get ready for football practice when the ground starts shaking. “Oh shit,” he mutters.

The monster is flying at him before he has a chance to warn the others.

Midway through an intense fist fight with the sparkly blue, gangly thing, Namjoon’s voice filters through his communicator. “Jungkook, we’ve just got wind of a new monster arrival on the school site at –”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he cuts him off, narrowly avoiding a punch. He’s been fighting for a solid few minutes now, already morphed into his Ranger suit. The warning’s come a little late.

“Your GPS shows you’re closest to the destination so can you –”

Jungkook grunts in pain when he gets struck down, wincing at the impact. Kicks shouldn’t be allowed in a fist fight, surely. There were unspoken rules there.

“Ah. You’re there already, aren’t you?”

Jungkook grunts again, this time in acknowledgement. With a final groan, he jumps back up and charges at the monster, his eyes looking right into the monster’s eyes – only to see its stretched, metallic face disappear completely from sight. _What the…?_

Something strikes him from behind and he yelps. He spins around immediately, managing to put up a decent counterattack before the monster delivers a direct blow to his head. He’s grateful for the flower-petalled helmet – without it, his skull would probably be crushed.

“Sorry about that,” Namjoon’s voice re-emerges from his wrist as Jungkook’s head pounds, and Jungkook can sense the awkwardness in his tone. “The exact location wasn’t showing, for some reason.”

“It’s cool,” Jungkook says. “Are you sending the others? I really need some backup here.”

“They’re on their way,” Namjoon confirms.

Sure enough, the other Rangers turn up only moments later – admittedly to find Jungkook writhing in pain on the floor, struggling to get up but determined to do so all the same. (It isn’t his finest moment, not quite, but at least he’s trying.)

“Get up, you loser,” Rosé motivates him as she steps over his body to throw some punches at the monster. But she gets fooled by the exact same trick that struck Jungkook down – the monster disappears and then the next second, she’s attacked from behind.

“How did it do that?” Lisa asks in awed panic.

“ _It?_ ” the monster says, clearly affronted, before continuing, “My name is Mind Spinner and I’m here to mess with your heads.” Then – very predictably – an evil cackle. (Will these things ever develop new fighting talk communication styles?) “And I _appreciate_ being addressed by name.”

“Or else what?” Hoseok asks stupidly.

Their answer comes in the form of another surprise attack; Mind Spinner running towards him before disappearing, only to emerge from the ground right below Hoseok’s feet and send him flying. “Wish I hadn’t asked,” he grumbles pitifully from the floor.

And so it goes on.

***

“How was football last night?” Taehyung asks the next day at lunch, after he’s greeted Jungkook by bopping him on the nose with a single baked bean. (Jungkook’s decided not to look too much into that one, or even react at all. He just hopes he remembers to wipe his nose before he turns up to his afternoon class looking like a dimly lit Rudolph.)

Jungkook tries not to let his eyes give anything away, even though he can feel Yanan looking at him. He’s probably wondering where Jungkook got to as well. But Jungkook can’t exactly explain that Mind Spinner messed up his plans.

(The Rangers got completely annihilated, as usual. Right when they thought they were developing a technique – standing in a circle facing outwards so that nothing could surprise them – the monster circled down on them from above and left them all truly winded, battered and bruised. It was a blessing in disguise when the monster got distracted by some nearby civilians filming the fight, charging at them until they dropped their phones in panic and then disappearing altogether.)

“Fine,” Jungkook answers. “Nothing special.” Yanan eyes him, confused, and Jungkook stares back pleadingly. _Don’t tell him I wasn’t there._ He already can’t tell Yanan why he couldn’t make it to practice, but it would be so much harder trying to explain it to Taehyung as well – he probes more. Or, worse, to fob Taehyung off with another excuse. He wants to keep the lies to a minimum as far as he can help it.

“So, gaming tonight?” Taehyung asks, clearly not picking up on anything unusual.

Jungkook sighs, stretching out his legs under the table. He doesn’t know if he has the mental capacity tonight, and he’ll be exhausted after training today. He already slept badly last night.

But saying no to Taehyung isn’t something that’s ever come easily to him. “Sure.”

***

Mind Spinner obviously does not want Jungkook to fulfil his plans of gaming with Taehyung that evening. Jungkook texts his best friend as soon as he gets the call from Namjoon: _Sorry, something came up. Rain check?_

He doesn’t wait for a reply before morphing and running to the park where the monster was last sighted. Lisa’s already there fighting when he turns up, the other three appearing simultaneously from different directions. “How long have you been here?” Jungkook calls over to Lisa.

“Long enough,” she grunts back. Mind Spinner’s bright white arms fly towards her and try to trap her in a chokehold, but she’s too quick and slashes the monster with her Sunflower Sword. Its blue face leers at her tauntingly, obviously not dissuaded, before vanishing. Lisa doesn’t even wait a beat before groaning, “Where are you _now?_ ”

Jungkook winces; she looks as worn out as he felt yesterday. He taps his communicator and gets his Thorn Daggers ready. This fight is going to be messy.

“Second day in a row?” Yoongi mutters to Jungkook as they pull off a combination weapon move – toxic honey daggers. Mind Spinner yelps in pain and although it sounds almost psychotic to admit, the sound makes Jungkook smile. It’s about time they start getting the upper hand in this fight.

“I know,” he mumbles back to Yoongi. “Not sure how Mind Spinner has the energy. I definitely don’t.” He isn’t lying: not only is their stamina particularly low today, but also their fighting spirit. The Rangers usually have a few days in between fights to get their bearings back and come up with a plan. This time the turnaround has been too quick and they’re all getting exhausted, fast.

It’s most definitely a relief when the monster teleports away from the park altogether, leaving the Rangers to stare into space and wonder how the hell they’re going to fight against this one.

***

Jungkook looks at the blue and white flowers beside his front door in trepidation as he gets out his keys. They’re just plants, he knows that, but after the fights with Mind Spinner they feel a bit… different. Unsettling.

Mind Spinner must be trying to wear them down rather than being out for the kill. Otherwise why would it leave just at the point when all the Rangers were out of energy? They have to be on guard. It clearly has some tricks up its sleeve, and Jungkook has a feeling the teleportation isn’t its only move.

He closes the door behind him and almost jumps out of his skin when he hears a male voice that most definitely does not belong in his household shout “Jungkook!” excitedly.

Jungkook breathes out a deep sigh of relief when the panic settles – what can he say, he’s jumpy today – and asks calmly, “What are you doing here?”

“Yeeun let me in,” Taehyung replies. He’s sat comfortably on the sofa beside Jungkook’s little sister, feet propped up on the coffee table like they belong there. His head turns back around to face the TV as soon as he’s replied, and it looks like he’s actually _focusing_ on the screen.

“Stop talking,” Yeeun mumbles under her breath, probably instinctively.

Jungkook squints at the scene before him. “Are you watching Love Island with Yeeun?”

“It’s strangely captivating,” Taehyung responds, eyes still on the screen.

Jungkook stares for a second longer, not quite sure what to make of it, before he shrugs it off. Against his better judgement, he toes off his shoes and pads over to the sofa to join them.

“This shit’s mad, man,” Taehyung says as Jungkook settles in beside him.

“Don’t swear in front of my sister,” Jungkook says half-heartedly.

“Hypocrite,” Yeeun says.

Taehyung laughs softly under his breath.

“What did I miss?” Jungkook asks. He should at least make an effort, right?

“The whole season?” Yeeun replies scornfully.

Jungkook rolls his eyes. That’s enough effort-making for today.

“Is there a reason you came over?” Jungkook asks as soon as the ad break hits.

Taehyung looks at him in surprise, and if Jungkook didn’t know better he’d guess that Taehyung was surprised at the insinuation he didn’t actually just come over to watch Love Island with Yeeun. But then he shrugs, turning back to the ads on the TV. “Just wanted to see you. You’ve been distant lately.”

Jungkook leans back further into the cushions, neglecting to reply. He doesn’t know what to say if it can’t be the truth.

A while later, after the episode of Love Island has finished and Jungkook’s convinced Taehyung out of staying to watch the after show, they head to Jungkook’s room. “Do you want to play Mario Kart?”

Taehyung’s eyes light up, amused. “Mario Kart. Now there’s a throwback.”

Jungkook smiles. “Fancied something a bit more light-hearted today.”

Taehyung nods. “Can’t blame you there. Did you hear there’s another monster on the loose? This must be the third one by now.”

Jungkook hums, a sense of dread building in him at the mere thought of it. They’ve been successful each time so far, but the monsters are getting stronger. They can do it, of course they can – Jungkook is learning that having confidence in his team is one of the most important aspects of being a leader. But the fact that these monsters are going to keep on coming, keep on trying to destroy him and his city, is a difficult reality to face.

“It sucks,” he agrees, his voice softer than he intends.

Taehyung raises an eyebrow at him. “You’re not scared, are you? That’s so _not you_.”

Jungkook laughs despite himself. “You calling me heartless?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if you were made of stone,” Taehyung shoots back coolly.

“I have emotions, you dick –”

“Good to hear! Toxic masculinity can go shove itself up its own ass.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s physically impossible.”

A knock at their door cuts them off. “Taehyung, are you staying for dinner?” Jungkook’s mother asks.

“If you’re giving me an opportunity to stay here and annoy Jungkook for longer then I’ll have to say yes,” Taehyung responds honestly.

Jungkook’s mother laughs. “Fantastic. I’ll go put on the food now.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes at Taehyung’s smug smile after the door falls closed again. “She only likes you because she thinks you’re kidding.”

“I don’t think she cares if I’m kidding,” Taehyung considers. “You’re annoying enough that it must be nice for her to get her own back, even if vicariously.”

Jungkook frowns. “Doesn’t it ever tire you out, being this irritating?”

“Nope,” Taehyung grins. “I have endless energy for irritating you.”

Jungkook huffs out a sigh. “Wonderful.”

Taehyung waves his video game controller in Jungkook’s face. “Rematch?”

Jungkook cracks a smile in spite of himself. This is the most relaxed evening he’s had for what feels like a while.

***

Training the next day isn’t the best session they’ve ever had, to put it mildly. The Power Rangers are tired and aching and they can hardly find the energy to work on their defending techniques, let alone actual physical combat.

“I know you’re usually free to go around 7pm,” Jaehyung starts when the time draws near, “but this isn’t working out too well and we have no clue how soon the monster could reappear. I think we need to keep going for at least another half hour.”

“No can do,” Hoseok says apologetically. “I already promised Seokjin I’d run lines with him tonight for his audition tomorrow.”

Jaehyung is staring at Hoseok in such an affronted way that for a brief moment Hoseok thinks he must have some sort of vendetta against actors. But then he says, “Did you say Sungjin?”

Hoseok frowns. “No, Seokjin. My brother. Anyway, doesn’t it make more sense to rest up so that we’re actually able to fight again when Mind Spinner comes back?”

“Hoseok has a point,” Jungkook says. “I don’t think we’ll be able to put up much of a fight without taking a break. Everyone’s exhausted.”

“That’s what they _want,_ ” Jaehyung says, his voice low. “They’re trying to wear you down. You can’t let them.”

“Then we need to rest while we can,” Jungkook argues.

Jaehyung sighs, clearly accepting that he’s not cut out to win this argument today. “Okay, fine. Go home.”

***

Lisa is walking back from Jungkook’s house after studying together on Saturday afternoon, through the slightly more long-winded route of the park, when she notices Jisoo sat on one of the benches. She stops inadvertently, observing for a moment how peaceful Jisoo seems. She’s looking out across the pond with a settled smile on her face.

Lisa clearly stares for a second too long because Jisoo turns around and smiles at her, sensing her presence. Lisa takes that as an invitation to come over.

“Hi again,” she says with a nervous chuckle as she puts down her bag and settles onto the bench a little way away. It’s an ordinary distance, a friendly I-don’t-know-you-all-that-well-yet distance, but it doesn’t feel close enough.

“Hi yourself,” Jisoo says. “What brings you here?”

“I was walking back from Jungkook’s house,” she says, but she falters when Jisoo’s ears prick up. “Oh, um – a friend,” she corrects herself. _Don’t make her think you have a boyfriend. Don’t give_ any _sort of indication that you may be straight. Keep things very, very gay. (Just in case.)_

“Sounds like a nice Saturday,” Jisoo says conversationally, and Lisa breathes a silent sigh of relief that Jisoo doesn’t seem to be reading into it. “Were you doing anything exciting?”

“Just studying,” Lisa explains. “We have a test soon, for History. It’s still a week away, but the teacher, well…”

Jisoo raises an eyebrow. “…is a bit of a nightmare?” she suggests.

Lisa hums noncommittally. “Not a nightmare. She just wants what’s best for us. She’s interested in so many areas of History that I think she forgets she can’t just cram it all into one lesson. It’s like she wants us to learn the whole history of the world in just a term.”

“But she has good intentions,” Jisoo says softly.

“Yeah, I think so.” Lisa frowns slightly. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Jisoo shakes her head. “No reason. What are your other subjects?”

“English, Politics and Geography.”

Jisoo lets out a low whistle and Lisa finds it strangely attractive. “Wow, that’s quite the selection. Seems like a lot of writing?”

“Yeah, there are a lot of essays,” Lisa says. “It makes sense – there’s a lot of content.”

Jisoo hums. “You really must be smart.”

Lisa’s eyes widen lets out a short chuckle, embarrassed. “No.”

Jisoo’s eyes twinkle and a smile starts to spread across her face. “You’re not used to being complimented, are you?”

Deny it as she might, Lisa can feel the blush rising on her cheeks. “I just don’t think I’m anything special.”

Jisoo’s smile immediately falls and Lisa hurries to correct herself.

“I mean, I’m just working hard and doing my best like everyone else. There isn’t anything outstanding about that.”

Jisoo chuckles. “Sure there is. You’re assuming that everyone’s working hard and doing their best. Not everyone acts like that.”

Lisa opens her mouth to disagree, but then she thinks of Jungkook who mostly appears to be coasting through life and seeing where it takes him. And she secretly agrees. Some people just take what’s handed to them – they don’t necessarily work hard for what they’ve got.

She immediately feels guilty for thinking like that about one of her teammates. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to not work hard all the time,” she contemplates. “Some people just work hard for the things they care the most about, and let everything else happen naturally. It’s about having priorities.”

Jisoo gives her a funny look, and says softly, “Priorities. Yeah.”

Lisa blinks. “What is it?”

Jisoo shakes her head, looking out straight ahead of her. Then her eyes widen and a bright smile appears on her face instantly. “Look,” she says, pointing, “two ducks have just arrived on the pond!”

Lisa laughs at the excitement on her face and then follows her finger. “Yeah, they’re cute.”

Jisoo hums, a blush faintly colouring her cheeks.

Lisa notices the change of mood and turns to her in confusion. “Seriously, what is it?”

Jisoo chuckles a little, still watching the ducks. “They are cute. Not the cutest thing I’ve seen this afternoon though.”

Lisa blinks. “Were there squirrels around earlier?”

Jisoo laughs, louder this time. More uninhibited. “That’s not what I meant. I didn’t see any squirrels. That would be nice, though.”

“They often hang out in the woodland areas,” Lisa explains. “Do you want to wander round and see if we can find any?” She proffers a hand to help Jisoo up – and Jisoo takes her hand, before Lisa has a chance to overthink the action and retract it. They both hesitate for a moment before letting go and the interaction reminds Lisa of the last time this happened. Somehow she feels just as winded as before. “Uh, this way,” she says breathlessly. And they walk.

***

“Hi Jaehyung,” Rosé says as she enters the library. It’s empty save Rosé and Jaehyung, and presumably Namjoon somewhere in the back. “I’m here for more history books.”

Jaehyung nods. “You know where they are.”

Rosé finds what she needs quickly and then heads over to the counter to get them checked out.

“Are you studying with Lisa and Jungkook?” Jaehyung asks as he scans the first book.

“Nah, I gave up on that pretty quickly. Jungkook’s too preoccupied with football and gaming to concentrate properly, and Lisa’s probably still hung up on that girl we met last week. Better to just get on with things on my own.”

Jaehyung chuckles, silently scanning the next book. Namjoon emerges from the back room and smiles at them in greeting before going to rearrange the bookshelves.

“Seriously, last time I spoke to Lisa it was all _Jisoo this, Jisoo that_ ,” Rosé continues. “I used to have so much faith in her ability to stay focused but maybe I was too trusting.”

“Did you say Jisoo?” Jaehyung frowns.

“Yeah, why?” She then laughs. “Has she been talking about her with you too?”

Jaehyung smiles gently. “Your books are all checked out. Remember to bring them back within the next two weeks.”

“Thanks,” Rosé says, taking the pile of books and leaving.

“I’m sure it’s a coincidence,” Namjoon pipes up from where he’s crouched beside the literature section. “Jisoo’s a common name.”

Jaehyung hums. “I know… but something these last few days hasn’t felt quite right.”

Namjoon chews his lower lip in thought before opening his mouth again. “Something hasn’t felt quite right to you since you were 15. You’ve got to stop worrying and trust it’ll work out. We’re doing the best we can.”

***

“Do you think they’ve been gathering food for the winter?” Jisoo asks Lisa in a hushed voice as they watch the squirrels. They’re crouched near the base of a tree, somehow trying to stay camouflaged even though they’re wearing bright clothes and it’s one hundred percent not working. The squirrels don’t seem too perturbed by their presence, at least.

“They’re not hedgehogs,” Lisa chuckles. “They don’t hibernate. But I guess it’s harder to find food when everything’s frosted up.”

“Imagine being a squirrel,” Jisoo sighs.

Lisa frowns. “What do you think it’d be like?”

Jisoo raises an eyebrow, lips quirking into a small smile like she’s about to tell a joke, and then she puts on a funny voice to say, “I must gather all these nuts and acorns for my squirrel children, otherwise they won’t have the energy to work hard and get a good education. What will become of them when they fail squirrel school and can’t find work as professional tree climbers? God forbid they have to rely on heckling humans for food!”

Lisa stares at her in shock for a moment before bursting out laughing. “Did you just invent a whole backstory for that random squirrel?”

“It’s not a random squirrel,” Jisoo says diplomatically. “It’s a squirrel who’s working hard to feed its family.”

“You just single-handedly created a whole universe,” Lisa wheezes.

“The universe was already made,” Jisoo responds seriously. “I just brought it to your attention.”

“The weird thing is,” she gasps, “I can’t even tell if you’re kidding.” That comment makes Jisoo drop the façade as she laughs too – and in a split second the laughter is unstoppable.

The tears springing to Lisa’s eyes of course makes her laugh even more, and she falls further to the ground, her face practically touching the floor. After a little longer she’s able to get a hold of her emotions and stand up, to find that she’s now much closer to Jisoo. They must have drifted together somehow while they were laughing.

There’s a beat’s silence, a beat that feels like it goes on for an eternity as Lisa looks into Jisoo’s eyes for the questions she needs answering.

Then a drop of rain lands on Lisa’s nose.

Her eyes widen as she tries to look at where it landed and Jisoo chuckles. “It’s raining.”

“Yeah,” Lisa replies. “Oh!” She picks up her bag that she’d left by her feet, rummaging through it. “I’m pretty sure I packed an umbrella in here somewhere…”

“That’s great!” Jisoo enthuses. “It started raining a couple days ago when I was sat by the pond and I didn’t have an umbrella, so I just got wet.”

Lisa laughs. “Why didn’t you just go home?” She finds the umbrella, popping it up and putting it over their heads just in time before the rain starts to come down a little heavier.

Jisoo shrugs. “Home is pretty far away.”

Lisa smiles. “At least you have me now.” Then she inwardly cringes – what the hell was that line? But Jisoo is looking at her again, in that funny way that Lisa couldn’t read before, and suddenly her face seems a lot closer.

In a sudden burst of nervousness, Lisa adjusts her grip on the umbrella, accidentally brushing Jisoo’s hand.

“Um. Sorry,” she says, blushing harder.

“Don’t be,” Jisoo says, bringing her other hand to the umbrella and cupping Lisa’s. She looks down at their hands self-consciously, then back to Lisa to gauge her reaction.

Lisa stares into her eyes for a second before kissing her.

It’s over almost immediately, soft and sweet, but it’s enough for time to feel like it stands still for just a moment. Then Jisoo leans in closer, kissing her back, and it’s… nothing like Lisa expected. Exactly like she’d hoped.

She doesn’t know how long they kiss like that for, but she knows that the rain is getting steadily heavier. It’s obvious enough from the strength she needs to keep holding up the umbrella. But when Jisoo’s arms wrap around her waist, gently holding her closer, Lisa thinks that it doesn’t matter about the rain, or that they’re stood in a darkening, freezing cold park together in late November. She could stay here forever.

After a little longer, Jisoo pulls away, still close enough that their lips are brushing. “I’m sorry,” she says – out of nowhere.

“Don’t be,” Lisa says, echoing her words from before. “That was nice. Really nice.”

Jisoo gulps and looks at Lisa in a way she can’t read, stepping a little further back. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Lisa mumbles, leaning closer for another kiss. But Jisoo strengthens her hold on Lisa’s waist, keeping her at arm’s length.

“There’ll be a monster attack in 10 minutes.”

Lisa blinks, immediately stilling. “What?”

“Lisa, I know who you are. And I’m not exactly who I led you to believe. The same goes for Mind Spinner.”

Well Lisa’s mind is most definitely spinning. The words whirl around in her brain for a moment before they slowly start to sink in.

“What do you mean?” she asks weakly.

“Mind Spinner wasn’t just named that because its powers confuse the Power Rangers,” Jisoo explains. Her voice is hushed and hurried, like she’ll run out of time. Like she’s scared someone will hear her. “The mind spinning also refers to the manipulation of the supernatural activity detector where the Rangers are based. The first two fights were just a test. This time, it’s meant to start undetected.”

Forget spinning: Lisa’s mind is spiralling out of control. “You’re saying that the monster’s going to arrive without the Rangers being alerted?” She shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “But how do you know?”

“I’m working with Sungjin.” At the blank look on Lisa’s face, her voice softens and she continues, “Don’t you get it, Lisa? I’m the enemy.” She looks in Lisa’s eyes as she speaks, holding her imperceptibly closer.

Lisa lets out a small sigh. Whether it’s at their proximity, or at the betrayal, or simply at how exhausted she feels is anyone’s guess. “So why did you tell me?” she asks, voice just as quiet.

Jisoo gulps. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Lisa shakes her head again, this time more certainly. “That’s the basis of your job description, though, isn’t it? Making us hurt.” She steps back, out from under the umbrella. Her hair gets soaked through immediately, the cold chilling her fingertips, but the feeling in her heart is colder.

“Yes,” Jisoo says. “I suppose it is.”

Jisoo watches Lisa take another small step back; watches her sigh again. This time seems more resigned. “Where’s the attack happening?”

“Next to the museum by the bridge,” Jisoo explains.

Lisa’s gut drops down to her shoes. “That’s 20 minutes from here,” she complains.

“So you’d better get going,” Jisoo responds. She reaches a hand out instinctively when Lisa makes to turn away, adding, “When you’re there, watch your back.”

“I know, I know,” Lisa sighs. She inadvertently steps closer to Jisoo’s outstretched hand, letting herself be covered again by the umbrella. “It teleports.”

“Nope, no teleporting,” Jisoo corrects her. “There are two of them.”

Lisa gapes. “But it always disappears right before our eyes.”

Jisoo nods. “That was my sister’s idea. It’s an optical illusion, too difficult for me to explain and even more difficult to master.”

“Oh… but wouldn’t it have been easier just to give it teleportation powers?”

“Not as easy as it seems,” Jisoo responds with a small smile.

“So how do the monsters teleport down to Earth? And you?”

Jisoo feels her heart stutter – only slightly, but it’s there. The fact that she could lie to Lisa and manipulate her like this, but Lisa still doesn’t think of her as a monster.

“Also not as easy as it seems,” Jisoo replies. “Now go. You’ve got a fight to win.”

Lisa sighs. “I don’t know whether to thank you or blame you.”

“I think a bit of both is okay,” Jisoo smiles. With that, she watches as Lisa turns on her heel and runs away.

***

With the information from Jisoo, the Power Rangers go from falling way behind to having a small head start. Lisa contacts the others on her way to the museum and thankfully they’re able to reach the location much quicker than she does. “What have I missed?” she asks breathlessly when she arrives.

“The most confusing fight ever,” Jungkook says. “We can’t keep track of this thing at all.”

“There are two of them,” Lisa responds. “Keep your eyes open at all times and don’t stop fighting just because the monster disappears. I don’t know how it works but I think it might not really go away how we expect it to.” So when Mind Spinner charges at her, she reaches for her Sunflower Sword and also charges forwards. The monster disappears but she keeps running, sword extended, and –

Nothing. Well, shit. What if Jisoo was lying to her?

No point worrying about that now – they have a fight to try and win. “Focus on defence, everyone,” she shouts to her teammates. “Remember what we practised. Don’t stop defending and keep striking on the off chance that you hit something.”

“Are we taking it in turns to be leader or something?” Jungkook jabs.

“If you’d found the insider information then maybe you’d be able to lead better,” Lisa quips back. The monster comes towards them and they quickly change positions so they’re back to back, both holding their weapons in front of them and blocking their faces. “ _Now,_ ” Lisa instructs.

They throw their weapons, seemingly into thin air, but miraculously one of Jungkook’s daggers hits the monster and its invisibility wears off, the monster falling to the ground.

“That was so easy…” Jungkook mutters as it struggles to get up.

“I guess all the planning went into the optical illusions and not the fighting technique?” Lisa suggests.

“That’s great. _We_ have technique, we can use it,” Jungkook says.

They keep a heavy focus on defending while aiming randomly, hoping to make impact. Finally, after over an hour’s hard work, the fight is won.

***

They reach the base and Jaehyung looks to Lisa in unmasked confusion. “The monster didn’t get detected by our software. How did you find out about it?”

“It turns out I knew someone who helped plan the attack,” Lisa admits. “Her name is Jisoo. She said she’s working with someone called Sungjin. And she also mentioned a sister, but didn’t give a name.”

Jaehyung sighs. “It’s as I feared, then.”

“Do you know them?” Hoseok asks.

“We used to know each other,” Jaehyung replies. “But I definitely don’t know who they’ve become.”

There’s a stunned, dramatic silence before Namjoon laughs. He quickly apologises, “I’m sorry, but that was so serious. I swear you never used to be like this.”

“Is it something to do with the people fighting us?” Rosé asks curiously.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen you look so sad before,” Hoseok agrees. “Serious, always, but never sad.”

Jaehyung plasters a small smile on his face. “It’s a shame. I used to think they were good people. But we just have to proceed with what we know now. Lisa, did you find out anything else important?”

Lisa shrugs. “Well, Jisoo said the name Mind Spinner had multiple meanings. I think there was more going on than just the fighting.” She doesn’t want to admit it but, “Her gaining my trust might have been part of it.”

“This isn’t the first time they’ve played psychological tricks on us,” Rosé says, concerned. “They tried to tear away Hoseok from the team before, remember?”

“Yeah,” Lisa frowns. “I hope this isn’t becoming a pattern – physical powers, mind games, more physical fighting, more mind games…”

“Don’t let it get to you,” Jungkook reassures her. “You had no clue who she was. It isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah,” Lisa says quietly. “The weird thing is… I feel like she kind of helped. The last monster attack was meant to go undetected. If she hadn’t told me about it then it could’ve done a lot more damage before we arrived.”

“So why would she tell you? Do you think it was a trick leading to something bigger?” Hoseok asks.

“I don’t know,” Lisa replies. “I think maybe she felt guilty.”

“For what?” Yoongi asks.

“Leading her on,” Rosé explains. “Right? You seemed like you were falling big time.”

Lisa smiles awkwardly, a light blush colouring her cheeks, and Yoongi’s mouth falls open. “I didn’t know you were into girls,” he says.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know, Yoongi,” Lisa responds.

Hoseok blinks. “How can you talk to him like that and get away with it? Honestly, I’m always so shocked that the shyest person here is the only one who’ll stand up to Min Yoongi.”

“You call him Yoongles,” Rosé points out, and Yoongi bristles.

“That’s just a nickname. I’m not confrontational,” Hoseok says, still baffled.

“She just gets away with it because she’s so cute,” Rosé considers.

Lisa blushes. “You think I’m cute?”

Rosé laughs. “Yes. But only platonically.”

***

Jungkook is unlocking his front door after the debrief at the base when a voice shouts “Boo!” – and promptly scares the shit out of him. He jumps backwards in surprise and may or may not let out a slight yelp.

“Damn, that was so old school,” Taehyung chortles, coming closer and clapping Jungkook on the back in greeting. “How did that work?”

Jungkook shakes his head, a silent chuckle escaping his lips. “You caught me off guard.”

“You should always be on guard, my friend. You never know what’s around the corner.”

“Sure I do. You’re always lurking somewhere around the corner,” Jungkook counters.

“Fair point,” Taehyung nods. He follows Jungkook into the house with approximately one millimetre’s distance between them. “Whatcha doing?” he asks incessantly as Jungkook ignores him, too busy pacing around the kitchen.

Eventually he replies, “I’m getting food?”

Taehyung bites him on the neck – yes. Bites him. Jungkook feels confused and violated and also a little exhilarated – and snaps back, “No, you’re not. You’re getting snacks and bringing them to your room. I miss gaming with you.”

“I don’t exist just to satisfy your gaming needs,” Jungkook combats.

“Aha!” Taehyung says triumphantly, for some reason thinking this statement means he’s won the argument. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

Jungkook laughs softly. “Fuck off.”

“Hurry up,” Taehyung responds, already halfway up the stairs. “Hey, why don’t we play Power Rangers?” he says excitedly when they reach the room, picking up the case from the floor. “I bought it for you months ago and I’ve hardly seen you use it.”

Jungkook can’t help the grimace that spreads across his face at the suggestion – he’s only just got away from all of that. This is supposed to be his relaxation time. “Um, maybe we could do something else? I’m not really in the mood for that right now.”

Taehyung’s face falls – only a miniscule amount, because he’s good at hiding it, but it’s obvious enough for Jungkook to notice. “Do you not like the game?” he asks. “I mean, it’s fine if you don’t. I’m just surprised – you were talking about it for weeks before it came out.”

“No, of course I like it,” Jungkook denies immediately, annoyed with himself. He hates making Taehyung upset. “Come on, let’s play.”

Taehyung frowns. “We don’t have to,” he says, feigning nonchalance as he sits down on Jungkook’s bed. Jungkook doesn’t respond; he’s already busying himself with setting up the game on the console.

“It’s a good game, Tae,” he says as he sits down beside Taehyung. “Thanks for getting it for me.”

Taehyung’s still staring at the TV screen in front of them, but Jungkook doesn’t miss the small smile on his face. “You’re welcome. So,” he says as he flicks through the different character options, “which of the _real-life_ Power Rangers do you think is the hottest?”

Jungkook smirks. “The red one, obviously,” he says as he selects the Red Ranger as his avatar.

Taehyung frowns at him. “I thought the red one was usually a guy.”

Jungkook coughs awkwardly. “Yeah, that’s true.” Is it weird that he never told Taehyung he’s into guys? It hardly seemed relevant when _Taehyung_ is the only guy he’s ever showed real interest in.

Taehyung looks at Jungkook in surprise before shrugging and turning back to the screen. “Well, whatever you’re into.”

Jungkook blinks. Did he just… come out? He doesn’t even know what he’s supposedly coming out _as_. Unless Taehyungsexual is a thing. (Jungkook somehow doubts it.)

There’s a small pause until Taehyung says, “You know you have to click X to start the game, right? The monster won’t just appear until you say you’re ready.”

“So unrealistic,” Jungkook mumbles to himself as he clicks the X button on the controller. The word _READY_ flashes across the screen in big red letters and suddenly they’re in front of a monster. Luckily this one is noticeably 2-Dimensional and doesn’t remind Jungkook as much of the real thing as he’d expected.

Somewhat predictably, Taehyung decides to change tack right when the monster’s about to be defeated and attacks the civilians walking by instead.

“Should I even bother asking why,” Jungkook groans.

“Just spicing things up a little,” Taehyung grins.

Jungkook supposes some things will never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> belladonna means ‘beautiful woman’ in Italian and is also an alternative name for the plant deadly nightshade, which the internet describes as ‘tempting yet fatal’. that’s how I viewed jisoo’s role in this chapter. just a small thing but I have my reasoning for the chapter titles haha!
> 
> p.s. what do you think of the jisoo and lisa dynamic so far? do you think jisoo really likes her or is it all pretend?


	6. venus pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it’s coming up to Christmas, a new monster arrives and people start going missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Christmas!!! hope you had a good one :) and enjoy the chapter!

“Jennie, any progress on the drawing?” They’re in the design room, Sungjin peering over Jennie’s shoulder as she works on a new sketch. Her grey t-shirt matches the grey walls and grey tables, the lifelessness of the room seeming to mimic the lack of success they’re having these days.

“I’m working on it,” she says tensely. “Do you have any idea how long it takes to design these things? You shouldn’t be so impatient.”

“I’d be less impatient if they ever actually succeeded,” Sungjin says pointedly.

“They’d be more likely to succeed if you didn’t insist on sending them down one by one,” Jennie retorts.

“There’s no point fighting,” Jisoo says tiredly, coming in between them. “Trapping the Rangers didn’t seem to work, and distracting them was completely useless.” She pauses, thinking of Lisa, then determinedly puts the thought of her mind. “We need to change our tactic.”

Jennie sighs, putting down her pencil. “You’re right. It’s useless trying to design a new monster without knowing what our goal is.”

“Our goal has always been to defeat the Power Rangers,” Sungjin snaps. “Is that so hard to understand? We can’t control the human population with our powers if we have enemies who are just as powerful.”

“It’s like he forgets that he was human once,” Jisoo whispers to Jennie, who giggles.

“Girls, seriously.”

Jennie rolls her eyes. “ _Sungjin_ , _seriously_ ,” she says, mimicking his deep voice. “Propose an actual solution or be quiet.” She picks up her pencil again and starts fiddling with the arm joints, scribbling down potential powers in the corner of the page.

“We’re just trying to make the work a bit more fun,” Jisoo rationalises. “Is there a specific characteristic you wanted us to include?”

Sungjin’s eye twitches in annoyance. “We need to take the Red Ranger out.”

Jennie taps her pencil against the table. “Feels like we’ve had this conversation before.”

“Leave it to us, Sungjin,” Jisoo sighs. “Why don’t you go work on your silent incantations?”

Jennie’s eyes widen and she holds back a laugh. They both know that Sungjin was never a natural at practising dark magic, which is how Jennie and Jisoo ended up having the matching mystic rings. The black one originally belonged to him. It’s a sore spot, reminding him of his weaknesses, and he hates it being brought up.

After Sungjin leaves the design room in a huff, Jennie turns to Jisoo with an eyebrow raised. “You’ve got more daring since you’ve been down to Earth.”

Jisoo chuckles. “I didn’t mean to make him annoyed. He kind of deserved it though. I guess I’ve just realised there’s more to life than being bossed about by your cousin.”

Jennie sighs. “He always acts like it’s such an ordeal, having us here. He seems to forget that he didn’t exactly give us a choice.”

“Yeah,” Jisoo hums. She pauses, not sure whether to bring it up. “Do you ever wonder what our parents are up to nowadays?”

Jennie gives her a wary look. “We promised we wouldn’t talk about that as long as we were up here.”

“It’s been years,” Jisoo says. She frowns, then shakes her head. “I was just wondering. When I went down to Earth, I felt like looking for them.”

“Did you?” Jennie’s voice is noticeably quieter.

“No,” Jisoo says, shaking her head again. She didn’t even know where to begin. Geographically, or mentally. How she could try to explain her life now.

Jennie lets out a deep breath and picks up her pencil again. “Come on, let’s brainstorm.”

***

“Time for your break from HIIT,” Jaehyung announces.

“Thank God,” Rosé says, collapsing into a heap. She falls directly onto the sunflower-patterned stones and Lisa prods her with her foot.

Jungkook chuckles at Rosé’s reaction. “No matter how many times we do this, you’re always the same.”

“The workouts are exhausting, you’ve got to give her that,” Yoongi says. He wipes a layer of sweat from under his fringe.

“So what is it today? More Ranger bonding time?” Hoseok asks hopefully. There’s a small, scattered laugh across the basement. They haven’t had ‘Ranger bonding time’ in weeks. They all know each other too well by now for it to be beneficial to the team.

“Actually, I think we should discuss what we know about the enemy,” Namjoon contributes from where he’s sat at his desk, tapping on his computer screen. “I’ve been compiling a spreadsheet of the information we have so far. Now that we’ve confirmed our suspicion that we’re fighting Sungjin and his cousins, we have a good place to start.”

Lisa looks at Namjoon warily. “So am I the only one here who can really add anything of value? Because I don’t know all that much. I’ve told you the gist of it already.”

Namjoon gives her a look she can’t quite read. “Not the only one.”

Jaehyung sighs. “I guess it’s time for me to share too, then.”

The Power Rangers look at him in surprise – all except Rosé. She shakes her head in wonder. “I knew you were hiding something.”

“Not hiding,” Jaehyung says. “It just didn’t seem relevant until we’d confirmed the identity of the enemy.”

Namjoon wheels across the basement in his desk chair until he’s facing the Rangers. Then he stands up, gesturing for Jaehyung to take his place. “Alright, Jae, you might want to sit for this.”

Yoongi frowns at the interaction. “How long have you two known each other?”

Jungkook grunts in agreement. “I thought you were just colleagues, but you act like you’ve been friends for years.”

Namjoon laughs. “One backstory at a time.” He points at the ground next to Yoongi. “Mind if I sit?”

“Sure,” Yoongi says, moving up to make some space. “Wow, this must be a real downgrade, giving up your chair.”

Namjoon chuckles. “It makes me feel far too official. It’s always good to remind yourself not to be self-important.”

Jaehyung smiles wryly. “Unfortunately, Sungjin didn’t have that perspective.”

“You said you knew him before,” Hoseok says. “How long ago was that?”

“Years,” Jaehyung chuckles. It’s a sad sound. “I last saw him when we were 14. We actually grew up together.”

Lisa’s eyes widen. “You did?” Then, before she can hold herself back, she adds, “Does that mean you knew Jisoo as well?”

“Yes,” Jaehyung confirms. “We were family friends.” He pauses. “Do you remember the prophecy?”

Jungkook frowns. “I don’t think we were ever actually _told_ the prophecy. You both just expected us to know about it.”

Namjoon chuckles awkwardly as Jaehyung gives him a dissatisfied look. “That’s my mistake… I was meant to brief you on it when we started. I suppose I was so caught up in the excitement that it slipped my mind.”

Rosé laughs involuntarily. “How’s he such a dork,” she whispers to Lisa.

Jaehyung sighs, immediately silencing her. “When I was young, I loved the idea of magic. My father sometimes showed me magic tricks and I was always so fascinated, so I wanted to learn more. Sungjin was my best friend… so I roped him into it too. We went searching for magical powers, for historical relics. I think we were about 12 when we discovered the prophecy.”

“The prophecy is the reason you’re all fighting evil right now,” Namjoon says. “The Mystic Jewels that power your communicators and your suits are destined to be used to ward off evil spirits every 100,000 years. No exact timeline was provided by the prophecy, but based on other research, we worked out that the next fight would come along at some point in our lifetimes.”

Jaehyung nods. “Thanks, Namjoon. Better late than never.”

Namjoon blushes in embarrassment and looks down at the floor.

“Sungjin and I were only young,” Jaehyung continues, “but we decided we had to come up with an action plan so that when evil struck, the world would be ready.”

“Did you believe the prophecy was real?” Rosé asks.

“Of course,” Jaehyung says. “Adults rarely believe in magic, but we were kids. So we knew _we_ had to be the ones to believe and to prepare.” He coughs, clearing his throat. “We went searching for the Mystic Jewels, but months passed and we couldn’t find anything. So we decided we had to find _real magic_ instead. And we did. I think it was in an old local library that I found the dark magic encyclopaedia.”

Jungkook’s expression twists, concerned. “That doesn’t sound too promising.”

“No,” Jaehyung chuckles. “We used the encyclopaedia to make our own Mystic Jewels, so that we could help fight evil when the time came. The clue should’ve been in the name ‘dark magic’, I suppose. We didn’t realise the magic we’d come across in our searching was so tangible, so strong, so vengeful… or at least _I_ didn’t.” He pauses. “I always think back and wonder whether Sungjin knew at that point that he was going to turn against the world instead of fight for it.”

“Maybe the power got to his head,” Yoongi says.

Jaehyung nods. “I think that’s exactly what happened.” He stands up determinedly. “Well, that’s the background you needed. What’s next?”

Jungkook’s eyes narrow. “Are you saying that you enabled Sungjin to develop powers and become this horrible evil force?” he says sceptically.

“It’s not a blame game,” Namjoon says quickly. “The only person at fault in all this was Sungjin.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Jaehyung replies, ignoring Namjoon’s comment. “I led him to dark magic, and he used it against me. Against all of us. He took the two jewels we made together, took the encyclopaedia, and ran away. He just disappeared one day and took his cousins with him. No one could trace where they’d gone. But the fact he’d taken the dark magic encyclopaedia… the power of what we could do scared me, but it didn’t scare him. It empowered him. I knew at that point that I couldn’t trust the magic in his hands, but when he ran away it was too late.”

“We met a couple years later,” Namjoon pipes up, “and after testing the waters for a while, Jae decided to trust me with what he knew.” He falters, turning to Yoongi. “Since you asked.”

Jaehyung smiles. “I had to keep working to find the actual Mystic Jewels and make sure the magic didn’t fall into the wrong hands again. I’d only found two by the time I told Joon about everything. He helped me find the other five.”

“Jeez,” Hoseok says. “Imagine being a teenager and having to cope with all of that.”

“I imagine it’d feel similar to what we’re doing now,” Yoongi deadpans.

“Is that why you work in a library?” Lisa asks Jaehyung.

Jungkook blinks. “All of that and your follow-up question is about libraries?” he asks her, bewildered.

“She’s right,” Jaehyung says, one eyebrow raised. “I found a whole book of dark magic in an inconspicuous library and managed to help create an evil warlock. I thought maybe the library would be a good place to stop something like that happening to anyone else.”

Hoseok whistles lowly. “This has got to be the heaviest conversation we’ve had in here since we were told we were going to become Power Rangers.”

Namjoon stands up, a determined expression on his face. “And now you know why it’s so important that we keep working so hard. Sungjin and his cousins essentially have unlimited powers as long as they have the jewels and the dark magic encyclopaedia. It’s going to be a tough fight, but we can’t let the dark magic win.”

***

“Hey, Jungkook, can I talk to you a second?” Lisa says as they’re all leaving the library after training.

“Depends,” Jungkook says, one eyebrow cocked. “Will this be a heavy conversation? Because I don’t know if I can take any more of those today.”

Lisa laughs. “Hopefully not. It’s just…” She sighs. “Even after all we learnt about Sungjin’s family today, I can’t stop thinking about Jisoo. She was so kind to me and so easy to talk to and…”

Jungkook feels very out of his element. “If you want to talk about crushes, maybe you should talk to Rosé. She might indulge you.”

Lisa shakes her head. “It’s not about that. Well, not exactly. You see, Jisoo told me that Mind Spinner’s name didn’t only refer to confusing the Rangers through its apparent teleportation.” She hesitates. “I’m wondering now if the powers also included some sort of love spell.”

“So why are you asking me?” Jungkook says, still not following.

“Well… the only person who had a one-on-one fight with Mind Spinner besides me was you.”

Jungkook chews on his lower lip. _No,_ he thinks to himself. _It doesn’t make sense_. Love spells would usually make you fall for the first person you saw, or something cliché like that. Not strengthen your feelings for someone you already liked. “I haven’t noticed anything.”

Lisa frowns. “You sure? You’re acting kind of suspicious.”

Unless that’s exactly what happened. Lisa started falling for Jisoo, but it shouldn’t have been so strong so soon that she got distracted from her Ranger duties by a near-stranger. So what if part of Sungjin’s tactic is to keep Jungkook distracted by his emotions instead of his training? He couldn’t let that happen.

Lisa looks at him warily. “It’s not me, is it?”

“What?” Jungkook says, baffled. “No, why would it be you?”

She gives him another dubious look. “I’m just saying. I’m gay.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?!” she protests. “Like there’s something you couldn’t possibly tell me.”

“I couldn’t possibly tell you,” Jungkook agrees, “because it’s none of your business.”

Lisa’s eyes soften. “So there is someone.”

Jungkook sighs. “There’s been someone for a long time. I don’t think it’s related to this.”

Lisa hums. “Okay. Well tell me if there are any developments. I mean –” She blushes. “If your feelings get stronger for some unexplained reason? Something that might be caused by magic.” She shakes her head, looking at the ground. “Just let me know. I’m going crazy here.”

Jungkook smiles. And, against his better judgement, he says, “I know the feeling.”

Lisa laughs. “What is it with us and heart to hearts after training?”

Jungkook laughs too. “Let’s not make a habit of it. And that’s a warning from your leader.”

Lisa scoffs. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t intimidate me one bit.”

***

He tries not to think too much about the conversation with Lisa. But the truth is, Jungkook can’t get his mind of Taehyung. It’s worse than usual nowadays. This is a new level of infatuation, one that he thinks could really be damaging to their friendship if he doesn’t get a hold on himself soon. But it’s nice to have a break from the monsters for once, and he’s going to take every opportunity that presents itself to hang out with his best friend, before another time comes along where he’ll have to desert him to go save the world again.

It’s undeniably selfish, but Jungkook would much rather stay in his Taehyung-shaped bubble of life and play video games together every day rather than having to disappear to training. Being a superhero was never really on his bucket list, despite what some of their friends seem to think, and he could do without the extra pressure. He just wants to talk to Taehyung all the time.

And make out with him a little. Or a lot.

And okay, shit, he should probably stop thinking about making out with his best friend while he’s sat right next to him in their Computer Science class that neither of them is paying attention to. But he can hardly help it. He’s dreamt before about kissing Taehyung; now he can’t help but wonder what it would be like in real life.

It feels wrong, whenever he snaps out of the daydream to see Taehyung’s dorky face looking at him questioningly. Like he’s disrespecting their friendship in some way for wanting something with him that’s more than PG. And Taehyung has made it clear that he doesn’t care about Jungkook’s sexuality, which is good, expected even, but. Jungkook kind of wants him to care a little. To maybe let on that there’d be a chance of something happening.

He’s just being cruel to himself now, he knows that. Taehyung has never let on that he’s anything other than straight. Not that he particularly talks about girls in his free time, but you know. Heteronormativity.

Jungkook sighs. He hates that his brain is stuck on Taehyung again, like it used to be when he first started to understand his feelings. It feels like he’s back to square one, and he feels disgusting for taking advantage of Taehyung’s friendship by picturing what his lips would feel like on Jungkook’s whenever they’re together. He needs a time out. Or a healthy dose of reality. Either one will do.

***

Jungkook is pretty much out of it as soon as Taehyung gives him a back hug before sitting at the lunch table. It’s so stupid and it’s definitely because Taehyung was feeling less inventive today – a _hug_ of all things – but now Jungkook has butterflies dancing around in his stomach that refuse to go away.

He focuses on his food and tries to stop reliving the moment like a pathetic idiot. He’s only partially successful.

“What do you think, Kook?” Taehyung says at some point, poking Jungkook with his foot.

“Huh?” Jungkook says gormlessly, mouth full of food. Needless to say, he hasn’t been following the conversation.

“The Power Rangers’ identities,” Changgu prompts him. “Any leads?”

Jungkook swallows and clears his throat. “Why are we talking about this now? Did something new happen?”

“The Power Rangers are always relevant,” Yanan says profoundly.

“I was saying that there are five Rangers and five of us,” Changgu grins cheekily. “Who knows, maybe the answer is right in front of us.”

Jungkook laughs. “Don’t you think we’d know if we were all Rangers?”

“Yeah, the Power Rangers do tend to know their _own_ identities,” Shinwon snickers.

“Aren’t they usually teenagers, though?” Changgu points out.

“They were teenagers in the cartoon to make it more relatable to kids,” Shinwon scoffs. “In the films they were young adults.”

“I don’t think we can really guess the real Rangers’ ages based on any of that,” Yanan says. “That was just a trend to make it commercial.”

“Yeah, you have a point,” Taehyung acknowledges, looking a little sad about the revelation. He’s clearly still holding out hope that he’ll be selected to be part of the Power Rangers team. “In real life there’s no reason to use kids. You’d just take the most qualified people for the job.”

“But wouldn’t adults get fired for disappearing whenever there’s an attack?” Yanan says sceptically.

“And at school you get in trouble for missing lessons,” Shinwon reasons. “What difference does it make? Whoever you are, it isn’t easy to disappear every time there’s a fight and effectively cover it up.”

Jungkook sinks imperceptibly lower in his seat. The reminder of how obvious his team’s disappearances could be makes him unhopeful that they’ll be able to keep their identities secret. They might need to start coming up with alibis sometime soon.

***

“End of term tests will be the death of me,” Jungkook says conversationally as they’re studying.

“Yeah,” Lisa agrees, dispirited. “I’m starting to think you have a point about being set too much work.”

“You don’t say,” Jungkook scoffs. “I can’t even keep track. God, I can hardly even remember the names of my other subjects.” He feels like slamming the textbook shut in protest.

Lisa frowns. “That sounds like a you problem.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow at her. “Very helpful.”

“What do you want me to say?” Lisa protests with a laugh. “Some of your school concerns are so _weird._ ” She turns her attention back to the kitchen table where their books are laid out and continues reading.

They manage to keep their concentration for another 15 minutes or so – at which point they decide to test each other and promptly realise they know nothing. “I thought you were really on it with History,” Jungkook says doubtfully. “Is the material really hard this time? Because you know about the same as me and everyone knows I’m a shit student.”

Lisa sighs. “Ranger stuff has been taking up all of my energy lately. Not to mention the Jisoo thing,” she adds quietly. “Uh, have you thought any more about what I asked you before?”

Jungkook grimaces. “A little bit. I think you might have a point. But I’m reluctant to bring it up with the others in case we’re wrong and then we look like idiots.”

“That’s not as big a deal for you,” Lisa complains. “Everyone already thinks you’re an idiot.”

Jungkook snorts. “You’re sounding more and more like Rosé every day.”

“So how bad has it been?” Lisa continues.

“I don’t know.” Jungkook fidgets in his seat. “Worse. It’s kind of hard to hold a conversation.” He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. Part of him hopes it really is down to dark magic, otherwise it means he’s just _that_ hopeless.

“At least you’re able to _have_ a conversation,” Lisa says dejectedly. “Jisoo’s stuck somewhere up in space.”

“Stuck?” Jungkook frowns. “That’s her home, isn’t it?”

A knock at the door cuts off whatever would’ve been Lisa’s reply.

“Hang on,” Jungkook says, already heading to the front door. He’s hardly swung it open when Taehyung walks inside.

“Hello friend, long time no see!” he says cheerfully as he strides past Jungkook.

“Uh – I saw you on Friday at school?”

“Sunday’s gaming day,” Taehyung says, turning to give Jungkook a pointed look. “You really shouldn’t be surprised to see me.”

“Actually, Tuesday’s gaming day,” Jungkook corrects him. “It has been for years.”

Taehyung bites his lower lip and Jungkook feels his attention wander. “Yeah, but you haven’t been turning up, so I figured it’s time for a change of tradition.” He turns around to face the kitchen area. “I’m going to raid your snack cupboard and then – oh. Hi.”

Lisa smiles awkwardly. “Hi there.”

Taehyung turns back to Jungkook, this time looking undeniably confused. “You have company.”

Jungkook scratches his head. “We’ve been studying.” It’s true, but it almost feels like a lie when the last thing they were doing was discussing Jungkook’s rampaging crush on Taehyung. Not that Lisa knows that either. But still.

Taehyung clears his throat. “So… should I leave?”

“No,” Jungkook says quickly. “Uh. We were pretty much done here, anyway,” he says, giving Lisa a look which he hopes she can read. It’s meant to say _pack up your things and don’t be offended,_ while tactfully omitting the _he’s the one I can’t stop thinking about_ part.

“Yeah, we just finished the end of topic summary questions and we’re wiped,” Lisa agrees, thankfully taking the hint and putting her books away. “Sorry to disturb gaming day,” she adds.

Taehyung chuckles awkwardly. “It’s okay. I did change the day last minute.”

“Do you want to pick a game and head up?” Jungkook asks Taehyung. He still feels exposed even though there’s probably no need to, and he hopes the nervousness doesn’t come through in his voice. “Lisa, I’ll walk you home.”

***

“Sorry about that,” Jungkook says as they walk out the house. “I didn’t know he was coming over.”

“Clearly,” Lisa chuckles. She pauses at the front door when Jungkook makes to keep moving. “You do know I live 15 minutes away, right? You really don’t have to walk me back.”

“Oh.” Jungkook winces. “I don’t know why I thought you lived at the library.”

Lisa laughs. “What the fuck?” She shakes her head to help clear it. “Okay, but really. Why did you say that? People don’t casually walk each other home. You made it sound like we’re dating.”

Jungkook looks at her in surprise. “Really? Do you think Taehyung will think that?”

Lisa frowns. “Why does it matter what Taehyung thinks?”

Jungkook shrugs. “It’s weird if I haven’t told him I’m dating someone.”

“It’s weirder if you haven’t told him you’re a superhero,” she replies.

“Fair point.”

So Lisa heads home on her own and Jungkook heads back inside, wondering if he’ll say anything about it, but he doesn’t.

***

“I didn’t know you were friends with Lisa,” Taehyung says the next day when they’re walking to school. Jungkook isn’t sure why it took until now for this to come up, but –

“Sure you did,” Jungkook says. “We hang out at school.”

Taehyung frowns. “Yeah, but… I thought the only girl you hung out with outside school was Rosé.”

Jungkook snorts at the thought. “Me and Rosé don’t study together anymore. She says I’m too annoying.”

Taehyung nods contemplatively. “Well I can understand that.”

Jungkook snorts again.

“So, uh –” Taehyung starts and Jungkook looks at him in confusion. He usually has so many words to get out of his jumbled brain that he speaks too quickly and stumbles over his thoughts. Hesitating isn’t a typical Taehyung behaviour. “When you said you were busy because you were studying…”

“I was studying,” Jungkook says quickly. “Not always with Lisa though, that’s just for History revision. She helps me concentrate.”

“If you want to study together, we could do that too,” Taehyung suggests.

“Right,” Jungkook scoffs. “You mean I study and you spend the whole time trying to convince me to play video games.”

Taehyung chuckles. “Doesn’t sound too bad, right?”

Jungkook grins. “I’ll come online tonight at 7:30. You should prepare to get your ass kicked.”

“In which game?” Taehyung asks.

“All of them.”

***

On Tuesday night, Taehyung and Shinwon sit in Taehyung’s room, hands on controllers. Jungkook has been pretty AWOL lately and Taehyung won’t hold it against him for being busy, but he also has to keep his budding gaming career going. Now that his regular partner can’t find the time, he’s searching for backup. Enter Shinwon.

“You know, I’ve hardly been to your house,” Shinwon says as they pause to change their characters and the fight scenario. They’re playing Power Rangers: Jungle Attack, because the newest Power Rangers video game lives at Jungkook’s place.

“I guess we usually play online,” Taehyung says. He selects the Red Ranger as his avatar and Shinwon groans.

“Dude, seriously? I thought we were changing characters so that _I_ could have a go being the Red Ranger. You’ve picked him every time.”

Taehyung frowns. “Right.” He unselects his avatar – “All yours, mate.” Jungkook always wants to be Player 1, but he hardly ever wants to be the Red Ranger. Taehyung has never really thought about it before, but he likes not having to compete for the position.

It’s always so easy and natural playing with Jungkook. Not that he doesn’t like Shinwon – it’s just not quite the same. Maybe it’s because they usually play in a group, so they haven’t quite figured out their teamwork tactics yet.

“How do you think the football match is going?” Shinwon asks as he chooses the Red Ranger avatar. Taehyung flicks over to the Yellow Ranger and hits select.

“If I cared, I’d be there watching it with Changgu,” Taehyung snickers.

Shinwon laughs. “He’s crazy, I swear. It must be minus figures out there.”

Taehyung grunts in agreement. Clicks X and watches as _READY_ flashes across the screen. Suddenly they’re atop the trees in a rainforest, fighting some sort of monkey-macaw hybrid.

“It’s probably nice for Yanan and Jungkook to see a friendly face in the crowd,” Shinwon considers, beating down a tree that’s suddenly come to life with his fists. “But couldn’t be me.” This level is one of the most dangerous ones – you need a lot of skill and observation. Taehyung and Jungkook managed to master it with a couple months of practice.

“Yeah,” Taehyung agrees. “Wait – leave it, I’ve got it –”

They both go for a flying kick at the monkey-macaw monster at the same time, but the monster dodges it at the last minute and the Red and Yellow Rangers end up kicking each other. They lose over half their health in one swipe and Taehyung stares at the screen in indignation.

Shinwon, on the other hand, seems to find it funny. “Shit, sorry. Guess we had the same idea.”

Taehyung snorts, relaxing. “Need to work on our teamwork.” He directs a punch at the monkey-macaw, hitting it square in the face. “Gotcha.” Then the monster retaliates and the Yellow Ranger dies.

They switch the scenario to something a little less challenging, this time fighting a large parrot-faced gorilla on level ground. “I’m so uncomfortable,” Taehyung comments offhandedly mid-way through an attempt, putting down his controller to change position.

“Can’t you do that when we’re done,” Shinwon mumbles.

“Nope,” Taehyung responds, popping the P. He can’t seem to find a position on the bed that works, so he decides to shift over to Shinwon’s lap instead.

Shinwon frowns at him when Taehyung comes close. “Uh… whatcha doing there?”

“Sitting on you,” Taehyung says.

“No,” Shinwon responds, pushing him away. The Red Ranger dies onscreen and Shinwon rolls his eyes. “This game is ridiculous.”

Taehyung scoffs. “First, it’s a great game. Second, why can’t I sit on you?”

Shinwon snorts. “Because it’s _weird._ ” He pauses, looking at Taehyung in surprise. “You have no idea,” he says in realisation. “Wow, Jungkook really lets you walk all over him, huh?”

Taehyung hums, lost in thought. Then they click to restart the game.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, they’ve figured out a plan to destroy the monster with minimal impact to their own health. The parrot-gorilla’s health has almost gone down to 0 when Taehyung gets bored of the game and decides to tackle Shinwon instead.

“What the fuck?” Shinwon protests, throwing his controller to the floor and shoving Taehyung away. But it isn’t a resigned comment like he’d usually receive from Jungkook. Taehyung sits back up with a grin to find Shinwon glaring back at him. “Why would you do that? We were so close.”

Taehyung shrugs. “Just felt like it.”

Shinwon just stares at him. “Why don’t we play something else?” he suggests eventually.

“Yeah, sure.”

This definitely isn’t the same as playing with Jungkook. Taehyung doesn’t know why he feels so disappointed.

***

Jungkook goes downstairs for breakfast to find his parents and sister watching the news. Already it’s an unfamiliar sight: his father is usually on his way to work by now, and his sister would usually be talking over the top of the TV or staring at her phone. Jungkook turns to the TV curiously. “...civilians disappearing on their way to work. One passer-by got some footage of the event –” the screen cuts to show a purple and red monster that looks like a cross between a plant and a dinosaur shooting laser beams at people, which make them disappear – “before the person filming also got struck by a laser beam and dropped their phone. Experts in the country are trying to work out where the missing people may have been taken, but in the meantime, it looks like our nation is once again reliant on the Power Rangers to put things right.”

 _Shit shit shit._ Jungkook checks his communicator, rubbing at his eyes to try and force himself more awake: 500 unread messages.

Shit.

“They’ve never attacked in the night before,” Yeeun says, worry seeping into her tone.

“6am isn’t really night-time,” their mother responds. “But still –” she turns to face Jungkook – “I don’t want either of you going out until this monster has been destroyed. Your father has arranged to work from home today. I’m even tempted to hold you both back from school.”

“I have a test today,” Jungkook says quickly. “I can’t risk missing it.”

What he definitely can’t risk missing is the chance to see his fellow teammates and figure out exactly what he missed while he was asleep. People have never gone missing as a result of a monster attack before – this is Not Good. The longer they leave it to form a plan, the more people might disappear.

Yeeun gives him a look from the sofa. It isn’t as prominent a frown as she may have the energy for in the evening, but it conveys the message all the same. “You’re going to risk getting struck by a laser beam just to go for a school test?”

“It counts towards my grade,” Jungkook replies.

“Since when have you cared about your grades?” Yeeun scoffs.

“Yeeun, be nice,” their mother hushes her.

“It’s good to see you taking an interest in your studies,” Jungkook’s father adds to him. “Education is important.”

Jungkook smiles queasily. (Needless to say, his father has never been too keen on his backup plan to be a professional gamer.)

“School is one matter, but no loitering around or going out in the evening,” his mother warns him. “No unnecessary risk taking, you hear me?”

Jungkook gulps. No going out in the evening means no training.

Okay, he might have been too hasty before. Now seems like the optimum time to panic.

***

“So… what did I miss?” Jungkook asks hesitantly as he and Rosé leave the History classroom. The test was just as difficult as he expected, but his mind is a little preoccupied by other matters right now.

Rosé stifles a yawn. “Apart from an early morning start… there’s a monster called Venus on the loose who’s making people disappear. We don’t know much more than that.”

“Yeah, I saw the news footage this morning,” Jungkook grimaces. “I’m so sorry I missed it. I can’t believe I slept through 500 messages.”

“Don’t let it happen again,” Rosé says tersely, not missing a beat. Jungkook wants to believe she’s just grouchy from lack of sleep, but he knows it’s more serious than that. Another Ranger being present might have made a big difference.

“On the news it looked like only three Rangers were there,” Jungkook continues.

“Oh, right, the Blue Ranger got held up,” Rosé agrees. She looks around carefully to make sure no one’s listening in before continuing quietly, “Hoseok snuck downstairs and had almost made it out the door when Seokjin turned up. You remember his brother? The aspiring actor who decided 6am was the perfect time to run lines.”

Jungkook’s jaw drops. “You’re kidding.”

Rosé shakes her head. “Couldn’t have made it up. Hoseok pretended he just came downstairs for a glass of water, and then he ended up running a scene with Seokjin because ‘why waste time just because neither of us can sleep?’ – so about 10 minutes later, Hoseok ended up escaping to the bathroom and climbing out the window.”

“What?” Jungkook scoffs. “No, you’re definitely kidding. He doesn’t have a bathroom on the ground floor. He would’ve broken something.”

“Yeah, which is why he morphed first,” Rosé tells him. “God knows what Seokjin thought of the blue light that inevitably shone out through the bathroom door. Let’s just hope he put it down to overtired hallucinating.”

Jungkook starts laughing. “That’s ridiculous.”

Rosé cracks a smile. “It seems our whole lives are pretty ridiculous these days, doesn’t it?”

Jungkook shakes his head in wonder, still chuckling to himself. “I just can’t believe that happened. Where does Seokjin think he went?”

“I guess we’ll find out tonight,” Rosé smirks. “My guess is that Seokjin decided Hoseok was far too bored running lines but far too nice to say so. Maybe he’ll pretend he went back to bed.”

“You know, it’s been a crazy day, but this has cheered me up,” Jungkook grins.

“Wow!” Rosé laughs in surprise. “Of all things, the Blue Ranger struggling to save the planet makes you laugh. Sicko,” she adds pointedly.

Jungkook laughs harder.

“Look at you two, so happy,” someone coos as they walk past. “Has lover boy had his first kiss yet?”

Rosé barely resists an eye roll as their laughter fades out. “I swear schoolkids have 700 ways of trying to ruin a friendship. Just for the record, Jungkook, I’ve never wanted to kiss you.”

Jungkook snorts. “Ditto. Hey – watch it,” he snaps, demeanour immediately changing when someone crashes into Rosé and makes her drop her books on the floor.

“Sorry, in a rush!” the culprit calls over his shoulder as he continues charging down the corridor like a lunatic.

“These corridors are a minefield,” Rosé mutters as she leans down to reach for her books. Someone else promptly bumps into her.

“I said _watch it_ ,” Jungkook frowns, turning to the other passers-by angrily. “You can _see_ her books fell on the floor. What’s wrong with you?”

One boy walking past laughs at his reaction. “Ooh, is her boyfriend going to beat me up?” he teases.

“Still not her boyfriend,” Jungkook says, eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t mean I won’t beat you up for being a prick.”

“Jungkook, leave it,” Rosé mutters under her breath.

Jungkook glares at him, then ducks down to help pick up Rose’s books. “You wouldn’t have this issue if you put your books back in your bag between lessons,” he recommends.

“Right, this is my fault,” Rosé scoffs. “Also, that’s counterintuitive. I’d just have to get them back out again for the next lesson.” She pauses, looking for the pens that fell out of her pencil case when she stumbled. Jungkook grabs one from the floor before someone steps on it and passes it over to her.

“I swear you didn’t used to have an angry streak,” Rosé contemplates. “You never would’ve threatened to beat someone up before.”

“Probably not,” Jungkook agrees. “I guess training’s made me more confident.”

“Or more aggressive,” Rosé amends.

Jungkook hums noncommittally. Maybe she’s not the only one who’s grouchy today. He scans the floor one last time before saying, “Is that everything?”

Rosé nods and they both stand up again.

“Jungkook, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Jungkook peers around a passer-by to see Taehyung grinning at him. He raises an eyebrow. “I got out of class 3 minutes ago.”

“And those 3 minutes have been the most frantic searching I’ve ever done,” Taehyung says emphatically. “Thank God that guy charged into Rosé and held you up or I might never have found you.”

“Gee, thanks,” Rosé says flatly.

“Anyway, I need to tell you something,” Taehyung continues. “One of my teachers was off sick two days ago and now I have a rescheduled lesson over lunch time.”

“And that concerns me how?” Jungkook says.

“We have to go for early lunch today,” Taehyung explains. “I live for aggravating you and I can’t do that if you’re not there.”

“Okay, sure,” Jungkook says easily. “I’ll head to the canteen in my free period.”

“Great!” Taehyung smiles. “See you then.”

“Your friendship is so strange,” Rosé laughs as Taehyung walks away. “Why do you let him torment you?”

Jungkook shrugs. “It doesn’t really bother me.”

“How long have you known each other again?”

“Since we were 7, or something?”

Rosé whistles. “Wow, 10 years. No wonder you can’t get rid of him.”

Jungkook laughs. “Wouldn’t dream of trying to.”

***

“Did you hear about the monster attack?” Taehyung asks him at lunch. Their table is empty besides the two of them, the other three still having lunch at the normal time.

“Yeah, I heard,” Jungkook says. He feels a bit queasy just thinking about it.

“Apparently only three of the Power Rangers were there for the fight. The Blue Ranger and the Red Ranger didn’t turn up. Can you imagine being the leader and not turning up?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook grimaces. “Very irresponsible. The Blue Ranger turned up later, though,” he adds as an afterthought.

Taehyung blinks. “Oh. He did? I didn’t hear anything about that.”

Jungkook coughs. “Maybe it’s just a rumour.” He shakes his head. “I also heard people went missing.” He wonders when he’ll stop feeling guilty. Maybe only after the people have been found and rescued.

“Yeah, it’s so _cool._ ”

Jungkook stares. “Taehyung, no. It’s not cool, it’s dangerous and scary.”

“Where’s your sense of fun?” Taehyung grins, nudging him in the arm and almost making Jungkook drop his fork. “Imagine where you get taken. I’d _love_ to go.”

“Well I’m sure if you let the Rangers know, they’ll make sure to let you get captured,” Jungkook says flatly.

“Really?” Taehyung says, and Jungkook can’t tell if Taehyung actually recognised his sarcasm or not. “You know, Kooks, that made me feel good. You always know what to say.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes.

***

It would’ve been nice for Sungjin to be considerate enough to wait for the school holidays before attacking again, but Jungkook supposes that’s a lot to ask from someone who prides himself on being their evil warlock enemy. It’s mid-morning on the final day of school when their communicators go off. They get away as fast as they can, arriving at the scene of the crime in record time, in the hopes that no more people will have disappeared in the meantime.

“That thing is peculiar,” Jungkook says when he catches sight of the monster.

“Right?” Hoseok agrees. “It’s like there were two design ideas and one was meant to be chosen at the end but they forgot to choose.”

Jungkook snorts. “So are we going with a toy dinosaur or a garish plant?” he mimics. “Why not both!”

“Can you guys concentrate,” Rosé says testily.

“Sorry,” Jungkook laughs. “Right, people going missing.” He nods to himself, getting his brain back in gear. Time to be serious. “Yep. I’m on it.” He gets out his Thorn Daggers: there’s no time to wait for things to get worse. If they want to stop more people disappearing, they have to have their defences ready. Besides, he thinks that vanishing civilians constitutes the fight already being escalated by the other side.

Although more civilians do walk past while the Rangers are fighting, it seems most of them have been watching the news (and aren’t as stupid or self-destructive as Taehyung) and are avoiding the fight scene at all costs. But then again, Venus is erratic and looking for trouble and inevitably, some people get caught in the crossfire.

At the end of the two-hour long fight, Venus remains intact and, miraculously, so do the Rangers. But another five people have vanished.

They de-morph in a nearby clearing and escape to the base as they’re sure no one is looking. This is bad – really bad.

“How are we going to get these people back?” Hoseok says, sat dejectedly on the floor. The other Rangers are sat nearby as they optimistically look to Jaehyung and Namjoon for answers.

“What do we know about the monster so far?” Jungkook asks. “Let’s think about this productively, not emotionally.”

“The name Venus…” Lisa says slowly. “The only thing coming to mind is the Venus flytrap. It’s a carnivorous plant, brightly coloured, although it’s typically green and pink rather than red and purple…” She trails off, hesitant to say the rest.

Namjoon nods. “Generally, they draw in insects with their bright colours and nectar, then once the insects are there, the trap closes. Boom, no more insect.”

“That’s brutal,” Jungkook winces.

Rosé sighs tiredly. “So, what? The missing people are gone forever? I won’t accept that.”

“Neither will I,” Hoseok agrees.

“I don’t think they’re gone,” Lisa replies. “But I don’t know if we can really do anything about it until the monster returns.” There’s a downcast expression on her face.

“So we’re just stuck in limbo?” Yoongi asks, clenching his teeth. “That isn’t right. Especially not with Christmas coming up.”

“At least the holidays start tomorrow,” Jungkook says. “We can put everything into training and working on a plan.”

“Oh shit, we’re still meant to be in school. We should get back to classes,” Hoseok says.

“We can’t go back as failures,” Yoongi argues. “We lost people. They deserve more than us just going back to our daily lives.”

“That’s exactly the kind of attitude we admire, Yoongi, and it’s the reason you became a Ranger,” Jaehyung says. “But Lisa is right. I don’t think there’s much hope of a quick fix. You should all go back for now and we’ll discuss things more this evening.”

The Rangers nod and stand up to leave. “If our parents let us out,” Rosé says to Yoongi as they exit the basement and head up the stairs. “I think the holidays will actually make it harder to train, if anything.”

“Chin up, lads,” Hoseok says from behind them. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

***

True to their word, they head back to normalcy as much as they can.

As it turns out, Jungkook’s friendship with both Rosé and Lisa ends up being a good enough alibi for where he disappeared to during school time. They explain that they went to the library to return some books since their History test was done, then got stuck at the library when they heard about the monster’s appearance.

It would appear that it isn’t at all unbelievable to want to stay inside out of harm’s way during an attack. Except to Taehyung, of course. “How could you not want to run straight into battle?!” he protests when Jungkook explains it to him.

“Tae, you’re the only one ridiculous enough to do that.”

“Why the rush for returning the books, anyway?” Taehyung persists. Jungkook can only shrug his shoulders in reply.

True to _his_ word, Taehyung maintains it would’ve been awesome to witness the fight and see Venus in person. Even though he’s absolutely wrong about that. (Although Jungkook has to hand it to him, Venus’ design is pretty amusing. He might have to ask Lisa if she knows who works on the monster design so that he can commend them for their sense of humour when this is all over.)

***

“Venus is a success so far,” Sungjin grins to his cousins. It’s the first time he’s looked so happy for a good couple of months.

“Yep. Told you it’s worth spending the time on design,” Jennie says with a raised eyebrow.

Sungjin shrugs. “I’ll take it. You had a point, Jen.”

“I know.” She chuckles. “It’s nice to have some recognition.”

“So what next?” Sungjin asks. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, the testing phase is over,” Jisoo replies. “We know that Venus can capture people and we know that the Rangers have no leads on how to get them back. I say we send Venus down one last time, to test the waters and see where the Rangers’ strengths lie.”

“Then it’s time to give them a break and make them think the threat is over,” Jennie says slyly.

Jisoo nods in agreement, a smile spreading across her face. “After that, we’ll move onto phase two: using Venus’ powers on the Rangers.”

***

The third fight comes close to Christmas, but it’s more successful than the previous two. Contrary to expectations, training over the holidays isn’t difficult to manage and the initial panic of more people disappearing is dying down – a perspective that’s definitely helped by the Rangers’ success on December 19th. They’re well prepared this time and manage to stop anyone else vanishing.

It isn’t their best success story, not when about 20 people have disappeared in total and there’s no sign of getting them back. But stopping anyone more from going missing is about the best they can hope for right now.

As Christmas comes closer and the monster doesn’t show any sign of returning, they try to put it out of their minds and enjoy the holidays while they can.

***

Jungkook is fast asleep when his phone starts ringing. He bolts upright in bed, tapping his communicator, before he realises it’s a false alarm. Just a phone call.

“Merry Christmas!” Taehyung cheers from down the line as soon as Jungkook clicks accept. He sounds far too enthusiastic for God knows what time it is in the night.

Jungkook groans – as best he can half-asleep – and quickly turns down the volume on his phone. “Don’t be so loud. You might wake Yeeun.”

Taehyung chuckles. “She’s 15. She can cope with sleeping past midnight.”

Jungkook blinks again, checking his communicator for the time. 12:01. Of course.

“So? Any time past midnight is free game for Santa,” Jungkook states.

“I repeat, she’s 15.”

“So?” Jungkook repeats. “If you don’t believe in Santa Claus, how can you hope to receive any presents?”

“Besides boys, makeup and Love Island, I don’t get the impression Yeeun particularly believes in anything,” Taehyung contemplates.

“I think Love Island falls under the category of boys and makeup.”

“I see your point.”

Jungkook yawns. “How come you rang me?”

“It’s midnight. It’s Christmas.”

Jungkook grunts.

“I’ve done this before but you never woke up.”

“Right.” He’s had all his devices off silent mode ever since he slept through the first fight with Venus and let innocent people vanish into thin air.

“So what are you up to?” Taehyung continues conversationally.

“Sleeping,” Jungkook snaps back.

Taehyung sighs. “Suit yourself.” It might be Jungkook’s imagination, but he thinks Taehyung’s voice is a little softer when he says, “Happy Christmas, Kookie.”

Jungkook hums. “Happy Christmas.”

Then he hangs up before Taehyung can bother him anymore.

“Ho, ho, ho!” a deep voice says at the door.

Jungkook scrambles under the covers. “Not yet, I’m still awake!”

An uncomfortable grunt. “Well get to sleep soon, young man. Or you won’t be asleep in time for Santa.”

Jungkook frowns. “Aren’t you Santa?”

His mother sighs, dropping the facade. “Look. Santa asked me to bring up the presents because he’s tired from his travels so far. He’s snacking on the mince pies.”

“So why did you impersonate him?”

“Well what if you were awake and thought _I_ was the present giver?” she defends herself. “I have to keep the Christmas magic alive.”

“Identity theft is a crime,” Jungkook states.

“Go to sleep, Jungkook.”

***

Christmas comes and goes and there’s still no sign of Venus, or the people who went missing. But there’s only so much they can do before the monster decides to reappear. At least for today, the only thing that matters is celebrating with Taehyung.

“Happy birthday,” Jungkook grins when his best friend answers the door.

“It is happy, isn’t it?” Taehyung grins back, letting him inside. “I’m having a great day.”

“It’s only midday,” Jungkook snorts, “and you get up at 11. What could’ve happened so far?”

“A good lie in,” Taehyung answers. “Also, pancakes.”

Jungkook nods, accepting the answer. “Fair.”

They lounge around in Taehyung’s bed gaming for hours – the only suitable way to spend a birthday, really – until they have a break for early dinner. It’s home-prepared Korean hotpot, a dish that Jungkook hasn’t had in forever and truly misses. No one makes it like Taehyung’s mother.

“I think you should start your own hotpot restaurant,” Jungkook tells her, not for the first time, as they eat.

She laughs. “You’re too kind. I think you would be my most loyal customer.”

Jungkook nods decisively. “You bet I would.”

“I still can’t believe you never have this at home,” Taehyung comments.

Jungkook shrugs as he eagerly spoons more into his mouth. “It’s a lot of preparation.”

“It certainly is,” Taehyung’s mother smiles. “But anything for my son.”

Taehyung grimaces. “Mum, don’t.”

Jungkook laughs at the interaction. For someone so physically affectionate, it always surprises Jungkook how uncomfortable Taehyung gets showing his love for his parents.

“So what are your plans for the rest of the night?” she asks.

“It isn’t a birthday without Overwatch,” Taehyung begins. “We also said we’d join Changgu, Shinwon and Yanan online for League of Legends later. But that’s just to drop in and say hi, to give them the privilege of wishing me happy birthday on the day itself. The main privilege of spending time with me today is reserved for Jungkook only.” (Jungkook fights back a ridiculous blush that he will never admit to.) “Then we were thinking a light-hearted Mario Kart battle. Maybe some Power Rangers to bring us into midnight – Jungkook bought his game round specially.”

His mother frowns. “Gaming all night?”

“Let them be boys,” his father dismisses her and Jungkook holds back a smile.

“What gift did you get for him in the end, Jungkook?” Taehyung’s mother asks.

“I can’t tell you yet. He’s refusing to open it until midnight,” Jungkook chuckles.

Taehyung’s father frowns. “But midnight is when it _stops_ being his birthday.”

Jungkook shrugs helplessly. “I tried to tell him.”

Taehyung’s mother looks at her son, bewildered. “You’ve always been a strange child.”

***

They’re 10 minutes into the Mario Kart championship when Jungkook’s communicator goes off.

Jungkook groans. He hesitates, hoping that the sound will stop soon. Hoping it’s another false alarm. He checks the screen again after a second and sees an urgent message pop up from Namjoon. “Not now,” he mutters to himself.

Taehyung looks at him curiously. “What’s up?”

Jungkook looks around the room for some sort of excuse. He comes up short. “I have to go.”

Taehyung frowns. “What? Why?” Both of their characters fall off the screen and die while they’re not looking.

Jungkook sighs, frustrated. “I can’t tell you.” He stands up, putting his controller down on the bed and grabbing his jacket.

Jungkook doesn’t have to look at Taehyung to know that he’s hurt. “But… it’s my birthday.”

Jungkook looks at Taehyung’s sad expression and tries to swallow down the guilt. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” He’s already on his way out of the room.

Taehyung sighs resignedly. “Fine.”

Jungkook hesitates in the doorway. “If anyone asks, I’m still here with you.” Then he disappears.

Taehyung stares after him, shaking his head in bewilderment. “Fucking hell, Jungkook,” he mumbles to himself. “Where do you keep disappearing to?”

***

The fourth fight against Venus is in an empty clearing. There are no nearby civilians – just the Power Rangers and the monster – so at least that’s one less thing to worry about, Jungkook reasons. It starts okay, and for a moment Jungkook thinks he might get back to Taehyung in time for midnight after all. But then Venus starts attacking with more vengeance, and it quickly transpires that people-vanishing laser beams aren’t its only power.

It starts going downhill when Venus first manipulates the soil. Hoseok is running towards Venus, all ready to throw his Blue Iris Throwing Stars, when suddenly the ground tilts below him and he slips and falls.

“Maybe it likes muddy conditions?” Rosé suggests in panic, running to a drier patch. She’s quickly hit by a burst of water coming straight from Venus’ mouth.

“How many powers does this thing have?” Jungkook wonders aloud. He throws his Thorn Daggers, hoping to distract the monster enough to give the Rangers some breathing room, but Venus already has its sights set on Lisa.

“ _No_ ,” Lisa protests angrily as her feet get wedged in the soil. “I guess this is the ‘trap’ part of the flytrap,” she mutters to herself.

“This is ridiculous,” Yoongi shouts over the din of squelching mud, water spurts and fire blasts. “How have we fought this thing three times and we _still_ have no clue what it can do?”

“Just focus on avoiding the laser beams and it’ll be fine!” Rosé shouts back. She looks around her, trying to spot a nearby Ranger for backup, when she realises what Venus’ plan must’ve been. Venus is in the middle and all the Rangers are separated.

Their combination moves are their saving grace where things go awry: their best quality is their teamwork. Even on opposite sides of a clearing, they’re of much less use to each other.

“Hoseok,” Yoongi yells. “Take this!” He throws over his Azalea Honey Blasters, hoping that Hoseok will know what to do with them. Sure enough, Hoseok smears toxic honey over his Blue Iris Throwing Stars and then shoots them at Venus. They make contact and Venus’ metal exterior scrapes and clanks.

Venus immediately lets out a squawking sound and shoots a final laser beam before disappearing from sight.

Rosé blinks as the din of fighting clears and the ground becomes less sticky. “Is it over?” She looks at Lisa, whose feet are now free from the soil, and they slowly group together.

“Wait – where’s Jungkook?” Hoseok asks, looking around in panic.

Yoongi’s hands clench into fists. “No, you’re _kidding_.”

“The final laser beam,” Lisa says in realisation.

“Yeah. Fuck,” Yoongi curses. “They’ve taken him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops, a cliffhanger... what do you think will happen next?! comments give me motivation :’)


	7. venus pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rangers embark on a rescue mission to find Jungkook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> t/w the violence in this chapter is a little more graphic, warning for torture, also death threats !!
> 
> (If you want to avoid this, please don’t read the sections starting with “Jungkook feels himself starting to drift off”, “He screams” and “This might hurt”. You won’t really miss any content as important things will be referred to in the other scenes!)
> 
> I also changed the name of the ‘drawing board room’ to the ‘design room’ because it just makes more sense. So if you’ve already read the other chapters when this is posted, it’s the same place!

Taehyung turns off his gaming console, feeling a little empty inside. Deflated, maybe. He’s just won two games of Overwatch in a row, but it doesn’t give him the satisfaction it usually would.

He slouches backwards onto his bed, falling onto the jumper that’s lying behind him.

He turns over, looking at it closer. It’s a black hoodie, made of super soft material that reminds Taehyung a little of his childhood blanket. He might think the jumper could’ve even been repurposed from the blanket, if not for the fact that it has ‘Gamer Dork’ printed on the front in big letters. In Comic Sans.

It’s a very Jungkook gift.

Taehyung reaches towards his bedside table and grabs his birthday card, rereading it.

_Happy birthday Tae! I hope you like your present. You really should, because there’s nothing more fitting for a gamer dork who refuses to buy his own jumper. It’s winter, stay warm you idiot. Have a wonderful day (which you will because you’ll be with me). From Jungkook_

“Where did you go?” Taehyung whispers to no one.

He’s going insane here. Without another thought, he throws on the jumper and heads out.

It isn’t a completely impulsive trip. Taehyung has to access some textbooks on coding for class, and he would usually either a) look up the reading online, or b) not do the work at all. But somehow – he never thought he’d see the day – he’s getting tired of staring at a screen all day.

Or maybe just tired of sitting at home wondering if his best friend will ever come back.

So he’s walking to the library. Jungkook seems to like the place lately, God knows why, but Taehyung figures he’s not doing anything else today. He might as well go.

“Why is it so packed in here on New Year’s Day?” he mutters to himself, moving past the occupied tables to find the section he’s looking for. There’s a quiet buzz in the room, people whispering to each other and pages rustling.

“Start as you mean to go on,” someone nearby answers. Taehyung turns around in surprise, coming face to face with someone he recognises, though he can’t place where from. “Sorry… I thought you were asking me,” the boy says embarrassedly when he notices Taehyung’s surprise, voice a little softer.

Taehyung chuckles. “No, just talking to myself.” He scans the shelves again, to no avail. What would the section be called? There isn’t one on coding, nor on computer science… maybe something like self-help would do. He pauses. “Hey, no chance you’d know where I can find some books on coding?”

“Maybe in Instructional/Skills?” the boy suggests.

“Good idea,” Taehyung smiles. “Thanks.” The section is slightly closer to where the boy is standing and Taehyung moves over. “Do we go to the same school?” he asks impulsively as he starts to search the shelves.

“Yeah,” the boy replies. “I’m Jimin.”

Taehyung clicks his fingers in realisation. “Of course you are.”

He looks different outside of school, but it makes sense: the boy who’s always working in his free time. The one who hangs out with Hoseok, the social butterfly who seems to do all the talking while Jimin keeps to himself and his books. Of course Taehyung would run into him at the library.

“My name’s Taehyung,” Taehyung shares. He finds another textbook and victoriously takes it from the shelf, tucking it under his arm.

“I know,” Jimin chuckles. “Everyone knows who you are. You’re friends with Jungkook, right? I’ve spoken to him a couple times since he became friends with Hoseok.”

Taehyung almost asks how long Jungkook has been friends with Hoseok, before realising his error: “Everyone’s friends with Hoseok.”

Jimin chuckles again. “Yeah, he’s like that.” He picks a final book off the English Literature shelf, then says, “Are you sitting down?”

Taehyung shakes his head. “I’ll just check these out and go. The library isn’t really my scene.”

“You don’t say, gamer dork,” Jimin jokes, gesturing to his jumper.

Taehyung laughs. “Birthday present. It would be rude not to wear it.”

“Oh, happy birthday.”

Taehyung smiles. “Thanks.” He piles up the books he’s found and stands up straight. “See you around. Happy New Year.”

Jimin smiles back. “You too.” He wanders around to find a seat as Taehyung heads to the counter.

“Just these to check out, please,” Taehyung says somewhat instinctively, before he realises who’s scanning his books.

“No problem,” Lisa replies.

Taehyung blinks at her. She couldn’t be the reason Jungkook is always in the library, right?

“That’s all checked out for you,” Lisa tells him a moment later, placing the books back in front of him. “Don’t forget to bring them back for either return or renewal in 2 weeks.”

“Yeah, cool,” Taehyung nods, a little unfocused. Maybe she’d have some sort of idea where Jungkook’s been. “Have you seen Jungkook lately, by the way?” 

Lisa stares at him for a moment and Taehyung wonders if he’s done something wrong.

“He hasn’t been at the library, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she says eventually.

“Okay,” Taehyung says. He doesn’t know if he feels disappointed, relieved or just confused. Over the last couple days, he’s done more thinking than he has in months. “Thanks anyway.” He picks up his books and heads out.

***

Jungkook feels himself starting to drift off, his head lulling to the side. Then an electrical pulse shoots through his fingers down his arms, jolting him awake again. “Fuck,” he hisses under his breath. He blinks once, twice, until he’s aware of his surroundings again.

At the other end of the room there’s a set of three monitors, next to a circular platform which Jungkook suspects might be for teleportation. Only for the fact that it looks more other-worldly than everything else here and he’s noticed that Sungjin, Jisoo and Jennie all avoid walking over it. The light grey wall behind the monitors is the only brightness in a room that’s otherwise black and dark red. But the monitors show photos of the city, colourful and bursting with life, which help Jungkook not to feel too disconnected from his life back on Earth. It gives him hope.

Next to the monitors is a large control panel, a couple of desk chairs left haphazardly nearby. A big space looms in between him and the monitors, almost like something used to be there in the middle but was recently removed. To the far right of the empty floor space, there’s a black door, leading to who knows where. Maybe his escape. Another door is on the far left. But he stays focused on the things in front of him. Tangible things, a reality he can reach.

He tries to focus on the things around the room and not on the machines right next to him. He doesn’t want to think about the whirring machine monitoring his heartbeat, or the clips on his fingers that keep shocking him back into consciousness, or the drip connected to his stomach which appears to be extracting blood.

If he thinks about it, he might start to think about how his limbs are aching, not just from fatigue but from being permanently stretched out like he’s mid-star jump. He might think about the sharp bits of metal twisting round his legs which tighten slightly every hour. He might even wonder what exactly that machine is monitoring other than the fact he’s still alive.

Sungjin enters the room again and Jungkook’s eyes squeeze shut.

“Hello, Red Ranger,” he says, voice deep and scratchy. Menacing. It’s a little like Yoongi’s, but 10 times worse. Sungjin actually sounds like he has the intent to do damage. “Are you ready for some more tests?”

Jungkook keeps his eyes closed, exhales slowly and tries not to wince. He hopes this time it won’t hurt so much he screams.

***

“Happy New Year!” Hoseok says as he walks into the base. Everyone else is already there, milling around and looking a little downcast.

Yoongi looks at him sceptically. “Is it? It’s been two days and Jungkook is still missing.”

“So we’ll do what we always do,” Hoseok says simply, smile still on his face. “Destroy the monster and reverse the magic. That’s how you saved me before, right?”

“Right,” Rosé confirms.

“Something tells me it won’t be that simple,” Yoongi says with a shake of his head. “This isn’t another case of a Power Ranger being trapped under a monster’s spell. He’s trapped, full stop. And we don’t know where.”

“Any more leads?” Hoseok asks Namjoon and Jaehyung hopefully.

Jaehyung shakes his head, a grim expression on his face. “Nothing so far. Namjoon and I have been researching as much as we can, but we haven’t been able to figure out the source of Venus’ powers.”

“We’ll keep working on it,” Namjoon promises. “Once we work out where Venus’ victims have been taken, we can plan how to get them back.”

“What if that isn’t quick enough?” Lisa asks quietly, her first words today. “It’s already been two days. If the only plan is to wait for Venus to come back and destroy it… what if Venus isn’t coming back?”

“Are you suggesting that a monster designed to terrorise the Earth will stop after only 20 victims?” Hoseok points out.

“I’m suggesting that a monster designed to destroy the Power Rangers might stop after capturing one,” Lisa responds. Her voice is calm, but the look in her eyes is fierce.

“There has to be something we can do,” Yoongi insists. “Some obvious answer that we’re missing, some simple solution…”

“If it’s so simple, why don’t you just fly up there and confront Sungjin yourself?” Rosé snaps.

“Oh my God,” Lisa whispers suddenly. “Oh my _God,_ I’m so _stupid._ The monster isn’t just called Venus because of the Venus flytrap. It’s called Venus because it’s capturing people and taking them _back to the spaceship._ ”

Yoongi stares at her in shock. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m not sure,” Lisa snaps back. “Don’t be ridiculous, I just thought of it. But it makes sense. The reason we haven’t been able to trace the victims since they got captured; the reason we’ve had no indication as to where Jungkook could be… They have him trapped somewhere we could never hope to reach. Outer space.”

“Well fuck,” Rosé mutters. “What exactly are we meant to do about that?”

“Keep training,” Jaehyung says, voice cold. “Namjoon and I will work on a solution. In the meantime, you can’t let this affect your combat and defence skills. Least of all, your concentration. On the off chance that Venus comes back here, we can’t risk letting another Ranger disappear.”

***

He screams. His throat is dry, his lungs feel empty, but he screams even louder. He doesn’t know what’s happening, too spaced out to understand anything, but it feels like the energy is slowly being sucked out of him. He distantly feels something prodding at his chest, something sharp and painful. Then his arms jerking, legs wanting to kick out, but he’s locked in place. His body thrashes against metal and it will certainly leave a nasty bruise, but that’s the least of his worries.

He’s exhausted. He feels like he hasn’t slept in years and all he can feel is _pain._

Finally, at last, it stops.

Jungkook stands there, breathing heavily. His body falls forwards as much as the contraptions on his legs, arms and back will allow. His head drops down, eyes trained on the floor before he squeezes them shut. He just wants to rest. For this to be over.

“Testing is over,” Jisoo says softly. She’s close to him, hands pulling the sensor pads away from his bare skin. Jungkook prefers when Jisoo operates the apparatus during testing. She’s kinder with it, somehow.

As kind as you can be while torturing someone.

Jungkook is probably going crazy. But at least he’s sane enough to recognise it.

“While we’re here,” Sungjin starts, and Jungkook winces despite himself; despite knowing that any outward sign of discomfort will only lead to him being treated more harshly. Sungjin is the most vicious of the three. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask… when Mind Spinner came to Earth for the final fight.”

Jungkook opens his eyes, looking at Sungjin. He seems curious, perhaps unsure, and Jungkook racks his brains for what Sungjin could be asking. For why he feels like he shouldn’t give the answer.

“Mind Spinner shouldn’t have been detected,” Sungjin says. “And yet the Power Rangers arrived soon after Mind Spinner did. Almost like you knew the monster was coming.”

The use of the singular variation of Mind Spinner’s name seems jarring to Jungkook: he could’ve sworn one of the monster’s advantages was actually that there were two of them. But… they weren’t meant to know that, were they?

Jisoo is looking at him worriedly. Then, as if catching herself, she turns away, walking back over to Sungjin and Jennie.

“So how did it happen?” Sungjin asks expectantly.

“Our Supernatural Activity Detector recognised the signals,” Jungkook replies. “We saw the monster coming, like always. What did you think would happen?” It’s instinctive, the need to lie to protect Jisoo. Even though they’re on opposite sides. If there’s anything he can recognise in people right now in this moment, it’s fear.

Sungjin frowns deeply, like something is missing but he can’t work out what it is. Jisoo is avoiding eye contact with all of them. And all suspicion of Jisoo’s ‘insider information’ being a double cross vanishes from Jungkook’s mind. She wasn’t meant to help them.

“Any more questions?” Jennie asks Sungjin.

Sungjin shakes his head mutely. He’s annoyed. Jungkook tries not to wince again – the testing is over, Jisoo said. There’s nothing to fear right now. Just another hour waiting in exhaustion, in loneliness, before the tests start up again.

“We’ve got all we can from these tests,” Jennie announces, checking the monitors.

Jungkook’s stomach drops in fear. What now?

“Leaving it any longer is unnecessary,” Jennie continues. “I say let’s kill him now.”

Jisoo shares a look with Jungkook, and maybe she sees the panic in his eyes, maybe she finds some small piece of humanity within her, because – “Not yet. There are a couple avenues we haven’t explored. Take off his communicator,” she instructs Jennie, gesturing to his wrist. “Test it separately; see if we can find any extra information on the weaponry. Keep the boy plugged in to test which qualities are individual and which are Power Ranger specific.” She gives Jungkook a stone-cold look. “Wear him down to his last drop of energy. Until he’s too weak to fight back.” Jungkook sees her gulp before finishing, “Then we’ll kill him.”

***

“It doesn’t make sense,” Jennie is saying as they walk into the design room. “We could already tell which qualities were caused by the jewel, which means by process of elimination we know the Red Ranger’s individual characteristics as well. I admit, monitoring the weapons is a good idea, but we don’t need the Red Ranger alive for that.”

Jisoo tries to stop the pang in her chest at those words. But she can’t stop picturing the panic on Jungkook’s face when he was told that he was about to die. “Jennie… he’s just a kid.”

“He’s the same age as the Yellow Ranger,” Jennie points out. “And don’t try telling me she’s just a kid to you too.”

“They’re the same age as us, Jen,” Jisoo maintains. “Do you really want his blood on your hands?”

Jennie’s eyes narrow. “You’ve become soft.”

“And you’ve become hardened by your life here,” Jisoo retorts, her voice somehow maintaining an aura of calmness even as her eyes sting with tears. She hates fighting with her sister. “We live isolated lives, obeying orders and manifesting destruction. Is this what you want?”

“It doesn’t matter what we want,” Jennie responds. “It’s what we do.”

“He hasn’t had a choice in any of this,” Jisoo starts.

“Like we didn’t have a choice?” Jennie retorts, throwing her hands up to gesture to the spaceship surrounding them. “In any of this?”

Jisoo holds her breath for a moment, trying not to lash out. For someone involved in an elaborate plan to take over the world, she really does hate confrontation. She opens her mouth for a final comment: “Don’t let your hate cloud your judgement. Remember, even if we kill him, we won’t be creating a path to power. We’ll be creating a martyr.”

Jennie furrows her brow but doesn’t respond. She gathers the papers on the table and turns to her sister. “Let’s take these back to our room. Then I’ll go check on the prisoners.”

“What are you doing?” Jisoo asks in surprise. “Just leave that stuff here.”

“What, while there are 20 civilians and a Power Ranger on the ship?” Jennie asks incredulously. “I don’t think so. We can’t risk anyone getting a sneak peek at our plans for the next monster.”

***

“I’m starting to think that waiting for Venus to return is a ridiculous plan,” Yoongi admits that evening, during their break midway through training.

“You always thought it was a ridiculous plan,” Hoseok points out.

“Yes, but with each hour that passes it’s getting even _more_ ridiculous,” Yoongi responds.

“I agree,” Rosé replies. “We can’t just sit and wait for an opportunity to save Jungkook. But… how? What do you think we should do?”

“If Sungjin, Jisoo and Jennie have him stuck on the spaceship, we need to find a way to get to him and help,” Hoseok says determinedly.

Lisa nods. “We need to go up there.”

Yoongi shakes his head. “It’s obviously a trap. They’re trying to lure us to the ship.”

“Does it matter?” Lisa asks quietly. “We can’t just leave him there to die.”

Hoseok frowns. “They wouldn’t kill him. Surely.” He pauses. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“This isn’t a video game, Hoseok,” Yoongi says, his eyes burning brighter with anger as the realisation hits him too. “We don’t get infinite lives. Lisa’s right. Even if it’s exactly what Sungjin wants us to do, we have to go.”

“Yes, but _how_?” Rosé asks frustratedly. “I want to save him as much as you all do. But you seem to be forgetting that we’re not astronauts. We’ve figured out he’s trapped on the spaceship, but how are we meant to get there?”

“How do the monsters teleport from the spaceship to earth and back again? Maybe we can just… do what they do?” Lisa suggests tentatively.

Namjoon taps his fingers against the keyboard where he’s sitting at the computer. “That’s not a bad idea, Lisa.”

Hoseok looks at him in surprise. “I didn’t know you were listening.”

Namjoon raises an eyebrow. “The Red Ranger is missing and you think I’d be sat here paying no attention?”

Hoseok shrugs helplessly as Lisa contemplates, “Does it count as missing if we know where he is?”

“He’s missing until we get him back,” Rosé decides. She looks at the others determinedly. “Okay. Let’s come up with a plan.”

***

Namjoon does all the work he can on figuring out how the monsters teleport back and forth, but the results come up empty. The only solution he can find is for a Ranger to latch onto the monster as it’s being teleported, since the powers extend to whatever the monster’s touching – with one small drawback. The teleportation is controlled from the spaceship, and there’s no way Sungjin would send his creation back to the ship with a Ranger attached.

In the end, it’s simple, really. The Rangers will go outside together, somewhere discreet with no one else around. Entice the monster to come down to earth. Get trapped.

That’s the plan.

Or, more specifically, the plan is for Lisa to get herself trapped and end up on the spaceship while the others stay out of harm’s way. She insists that she should have an advantage now that she and Jisoo have become friends. The others warn her against it – their whole friendship was most likely just a ruse to distract Lisa from her Ranger duties, after all – but she’s their best bet. It’s risky, but Jungkook has been missing for four days now. There’s no option but to risk it.

***

“This might hurt,” Jennie warns before she sticks a needle into Jungkook’s shoulder. He winces, but her eyes are focused on the task.

Sungjin’s eyes are focused on the monitors, however – “The Power Rangers are in sight.”

Jisoo walks over, leaning closer. “Looks like they’re just wandering around, talking. Completely defenceless.” A mischievous smile spreads across her face. “It’s like they’re looking for trouble.” She looks to Sungjin, the excitement in her eyes unmistakable. “Shall I go get Venus?”

Sungjin nods and Jisoo disappears out the door.

Jungkook’s eyes follow her, but not in the intense way they might have done two days prior. His stare seems unconscious, vacant. Sungjin notices it too and walks closer to him, looking at him closely. It’s impossible to tell what Jungkook is thinking, but Jennie suspects she knows Sungjin’s intentions. He’s wondering just how much Jungkook is really paying attention to; how out of it he really is.

Perhaps whether he’s out of it enough to give them more information.

Jennie tunes out Sungjin’s voice and walks over to the monitor, making sure she keeps tabs on the Power Rangers’ location. Soon enough, Jisoo returns with Venus and they step over to the teleportation pad. Jungkook blinks in their direction and Sungjin fumes, shouting right in his face to get him to return his attention to Sungjin.

Jennie almost rolls her eyes. He has a huge superiority complex. He probably thinks he’s a lot more intimidating than he actually is. Or maybe she’s just immune to his shouting by this point.

Jennie begins the teleportation process, selecting the monitor screen that’s showing where she wants Venus to appear. There are limited locations for teleportation, of course, but luckily the Rangers are stood very close to one of their main hubs. They appear to be sat on the ground, chatting, still completely unaware. Perhaps snacking on something… is that a picnic?

She’s getting hungry, actually. It must be nearing lunchtime.

_Stay focused, Jennie._

She pulls the lever behind the desk. She and Jisoo watch as Venus appears on the monitor, right in front of the Rangers, and they begin to fight. The Rangers jump to action almost instantly, like they were expecting to be snuck up on, and Jennie almost feels bad for how on edge they must feel constantly. Not like she doesn’t know the feeling.

Jisoo cheers Venus on as they fight. He seems to be doing well – the Rangers haven’t morphed yet, perhaps overestimating their capability to fight Venus without their power enhancements. It’s perhaps not the fairest fight. But Venus is very obviously doing well and enjoying the process.

“Do you ever watch these scenes and feel proud?” Jisoo muses. Her eyes are glued to the screen.

“Always,” Jennie smiles. It’s incredible to see their own creations faring so well on the battlefield. They’ve designed and built him well.

“Four days and you still won’t say anything,” Sungjin mutters, his voice piercing through Jennie’s thoughts.

She turns to look at them. Jungkook’s eyes are glazing over.

“I _said,_ where is your base?”

Jungkook shows no recognition of having heard him.

“Where is your base?” Sungjin repeats, increasingly frustrated.

“I don’t think he can hear you,” Jennie says slowly. She’s never seen someone so unresponsive before.

“He can hear, he just won’t _listen_ ,” Sungjin gripes. “I have the power to kill you, you know that? So you should answer me.”

“You’re going to kill me anyway,” Jungkook replies. His voice is subdued, emotionless. His eyes still stare forward.

“He has a point, you know,” Jisoo acknowledges reluctantly.

Sungjin’s eye twitches as he turns to glare at them. Then he redirects his glare at the Red Ranger. “Let’s try something different, then. The monster attack last month. Your detectors didn’t alert you to the monster’s presence, I’m sure of that. So _how_?”

Jisoo’s eyes dart round the room, looking for something else to do. The intimidation tactics Sungjin employs have always made her uncomfortable.

“I don’t appreciate having to repeat myself,” Sungjin says, his voice quieter but more menacing. It sounds like a growl.

He’s met with silence.

Sungjin slaps him round the face. “I’m going to ask one more time. How did you see our monster coming?”

Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath, his eyes focusing for a second before they space out again. “I don’t know.”

Sungjin punches him square in the face, then in the shoulder. Then the stomach. Jungkook would be doubled over if he weren’t still held upright by the fastenings round his wrists.

“You’ll kill him if you carry on like that,” Jennie warns quietly.

Sungjin glares at her. “And you have a problem with that?”

She glares back. “The tests aren’t done yet. Leave it another hour, then you can do what you want.” She turns back to the monitors and sighs frustratedly. She and Jisoo have both lost their concentration on the fight: Venus is stumbling, starting to struggle.

Jennie presses a button on the keypad to bring Venus back. The monster appears on the teleportation pad before them and shamefully walks out of the room without a word, heading back to the monster cells.

“Venus might have suffered some damage,” Jennie says, her teeth clenched. These monsters are her designs, her prized creations. They’re her responsibility. Every time a monster gets damaged it feels like a personal failure. Like she failed to keep them strong.

“We can send the Blinks to check on him and make repairs,” Jisoo says comfortingly.

“It,” Sungjin corrects her testily. “I don’t know why you insist on personifying the machinery.”

“They’re more than that to us,” Jisoo responds simply, glancing in her direction. It’s clear she doesn’t want Jennie to reply with a statement that’s more loaded and start another argument.

“So be it,” Sungjin acquiesces. He starts pacing across the room. “Once the Blinks have finished repairing Venus, they should come back here and adjust the Red Ranger’s fittings for the final testing period.” He turns to Jungkook to see him watching them, the usual mix of determination and fear in his eyes replaced by sheer exhaustion. He practically looks dead already. “After that, the Red Ranger will no longer be of use to us.”

***

When Lisa comes to, the first thing that hits her is the smell. It’s bad, like she’s ended up in a sewer or a landfill site or something. The second thing is the pain in her head, which she thinks was caused by the laser beam. The third thing that reaches her is the view: her eyes slowly open to show she’s face to face with a plain wall. Or, actually, it might be a ceiling… her arms are resting on a surface, like she’s lying down.

She blinks a little more and uses her hands to help push herself up.

The fourth thing that hits her is the fact that she’s behind bars.

Shit. Why did she think she’d end up somewhere in the middle of the spaceship and be able to explore straight away?

“Hi there,” a male voice says from nearby and Lisa flinches.

“Hi?” she responds hesitantly when she locates the source of the voice. There’s someone in the prison cell opposite hers. Someone who looks normal, looks human – someone who’s talking to her. She stands up quickly and rushes towards the bars.

“Careful, those are –” He winces as Lisa touches the bars and then flinches, jolting backwards. “Electric,” he finishes apologetically.

Lisa blinks a little more. She sighs and settles for standing one step back from the bars. “Did you get caught by a monster, by any chance?”

The man nods. “My name’s Wonpil. And you are?”

“Lisa,” Lisa responds.

“It’s good to meet you, Lisa. It feels like I haven’t seen another human in _days._ There are people all along here,” he says, gesturing further down the room which seems to stretch another 30 or so metres before reaching a door, “but it’s hard to see each other, especially when you can’t get close to the bars.”

“How long have you been here?” Lisa asks.

“You tell me,” Wonpil says. “Last thing I knew, I was walking along minding my own business and sudden a monster appeared in front of me. That was on December 19th…?”

“Oh,” Lisa breathes. He was caught in the second fight, then. One of the five they couldn’t save. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Wonpil smiles. “Not like there’s anything either of us could do about a monster on the loose.”

Lisa smiles politely. How little he knows.

“So what date is it today?”

“The 3rd of January.”

Wonpil’s eyes widen. “Oh, shit.”

“Happy New Year,” Lisa tacks on awkwardly.

“You too,” Wonpil sighs. “Probably won’t be too happy, being stuck here.”

“Has it been bad?” Lisa asks.

Wonpil pauses, thinking. “Pretty bad. Most days it’s just boring and cold. Lonely. At least I have someone to talk to now, though,” he adds with a smile.

Lisa smiles back. “We’ll probably have lots of time to get to know each other.”

“And the best view for it,” Wonpil says grimly. “You may have noticed these cells don’t have toilets.”

Lisa grimaces. “Is that where the smell’s coming from?”

“I’m afraid so,” Wonpil smiles awkwardly. “I suppose it’s time I traded my privacy in for some company, anyway. I’m sorry to you, though. It’s kind of… degrading. Just let me know when you need to go and I’ll turn around.”

Lisa blinks, a blush spreading to her cheeks at the thought. She hopes she won’t be here for long.

Wonpil seems to notice her expression, because then he’s offering her a small smile. “It’s better than spending the rest of our lives here in isolation.”

Lisa chuckles. “You mean the rest of our _time_ here?”

Wonpil shakes his head and Lisa’s laughter fades out.

“I think I know one of the girls here,” she admits hesitantly. “I didn’t know she was evil at the time we met, obviously… but I’m hoping she’ll remember me. Maybe I can convince her to help us.”

Wonpil scoffs. “That sounds like a tough ask. But good luck.” He shakes his head. “I think the only hope we have right now is the Power Rangers. I don’t know what’s taking them so long.”

Lisa tries not to let her expression give her away. “I’m sure they’re wondering the same thing.”

A noise sounds from the other end of the room, maybe a door slamming, and then Wonpil is turning to her in panic. “Someone’s coming.”

Lisa’s eyes widen as she hears footsteps start to edge closer. “Should I be worried?”

“Depends,” he whispers back as loudly as he dares. “If it’s the man, then yes. If it’s one of the women, we should be fine.”

Lisa gulps and nods mutely. She doesn’t know what she’ll do if Sungjin finds her first.

Lisa keeps quiet, holding her breath, and watches as a girl appears round the corner. She’s facing away, but unless Jisoo’s sister is her identical twin, Lisa recognises this girl even from the back. She waves a hand in front of Wonpil’s cell and Lisa keeps watching in astonishment as a plate of food transports itself through to the other side of the bars. She waves her hand once more, then gestures forwards for Wonpil to eat.

She turns around, the prettiest tiny smile on her face, then stops dead in her tracks. She blinks slowly and Lisa looks right back at her.

Jisoo looks side to side before approaching her cell. “Lisa – what are you doing here?”

Lisa chuckles awkwardly. “It’s not like I got lasered _deliberately._ ”

Jisoo must see something on her face, must know somehow that she’s lying, because then she’s asking sceptically, “You’re here to save Jungkook, aren’t you?”

Lisa feigns surprise and hopes that it’s believable. “Is he here?”

Jisoo’s expression falters. “Um – no,” she says. “That’s what I was going to tell you. You’re in the wrong place, he’s been taken somewhere else.”

Lisa feels a bit hurt that Jisoo’s lying to her, but she tries to push it aside. They both have their alliances. Conflicting alliances. She’s got to do what she’s got to do – and so does Lisa.

So if Jisoo can tell when she’s lying, there’s only one thing for it: the truth. A version of it, at least. “I just really wanted to see you. I can’t get you off my mind.” It’s honest. It’s the reason she volunteered to infiltrate the spaceship.

Jisoo closes her eyes, looking pained. “You shouldn’t have come.” Still, she steps closer.

Lisa moves forward too, then remembers the bars’ electric charge and thinks better of it.

Jisoo watches her hesitation in concern. “You felt the sparks already?”

Lisa manages a smile. “With the prison cell or with you?”

Jisoo smiles back, some of the tension leaving her expression. “Let me sort it for you.”

She waves her hands in a circular motion, presumably pushing some unseen energy towards the bars. She guides the energy across the bars, up and down, then draws it back into herself, into… the ring on her finger? Lisa looks at it curiously and wonders if it has any relation to the homemade sorcerous jewels Jaehyung told her about. Jisoo’s ring looks like a white stone set in a thick gold band.

“It’s safe now,” Jisoo says, her voice soft.

Lisa moves closer and puts her hands against the bars, holding her breath. She lets it out when she doesn’t feel an electric shock. Maybe there’s some room for trust between them, after all.

The thought of trust reminds Lisa of another question she’s been wanting to ask. The words are out of her mouth before she has a chance to reconsider if she really wants to voice the concern. “Did you cast a spell on me to make me fall for you?”

Jisoo laughs, light and airy, so pretty. She puts a hand against the bars, only a couple centimetres away from Lisa’s fingertips. “Of course not. The only plan was to distract you; no magic was used.” She quirks an eyebrow playfully. “You fell hard, huh?”

Lisa blushes involuntarily. “I didn’t say that.”

Jisoo chuckles. “You didn’t have to.” She smiles shyly. “I wish we could be alone again.”

Lisa’s stomach swoops.

“It feels wrong here,” Jisoo continues, her smile fading a little, and Lisa’s hope fades with it.

“I’m not here as Jungkook’s friend, or as your enemy,” Lisa says quietly. “I’m just here as Lisa. Please don’t view me as anything else.” She slowly moves her hand upwards, to link her fingers with Jisoo’s. “We don’t have to fight.” The last sentence is a lie – an obvious one. But if Jisoo notices, she doesn’t say.

Jisoo inhales, looking at their hands, then steps away from the cell. Their hands separate. Lisa reaches out to her – out to her only chance to escape. She inadvertently makes eye contact with Wonpil through the bars, who’s been watching the exchange. He’s looking at her in pity.

Lisa turns back to Jisoo desperately. “Stay here with me a little longer.”

Jisoo shakes her head. “It’s too dangerous.” She pauses. “But… maybe somewhere else…” she mutters under her breath. Then, louder, “Stand back.”

Bewildered, Lisa complies. Jisoo whispers a few words and moves her hands in a confusing pattern – and to Lisa’s astonishment, the bars open outwards like a door swinging open.

Lisa slowly walks out, wary that this could be a trap. But her suspicions vanish into thin air when Jisoo turns around and says to Wonpil, “Mention this to _no one._ You hear me?”

Wonpil nods mutely, immediately stepping back and avoiding eye contact.

Lisa wishes he’d look her way, so she could reassure him that she’ll try to get him out of that cell as well. But maybe it’s for the best that he doesn’t. So she keeps her eyes trained on Jisoo, who smiles gently and leads the way out of the room of prisoners.

They walk down the corridor towards the doors and Lisa tries not to look at the prisoners on either side of her. The ones they failed to save. The ones who have been living in terrible conditions because of the Power Rangers’ failure to protect the city.

A familiar face shocks her out of her self-pity. Or perhaps she should say a familiar piece of machinery. She recognises a monster from a couple months ago: Creeper. “I thought we defeated him…” she mumbles to herself.

Jisoo follows her gaze. “Oh, Jennie’s been working on improving our previous monster designs and recreating them with more powerful characteristics,” she explains offhandedly. Then she falters. “I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

Lisa chuckles. “As I said, I’m just here as Lisa.” She stores the information in her head for later.

“Well, Just Lisa,” Jisoo starts, “we need to make sure that no one sees you. But that’s very likely to happen if we stay in the same place.” She’s biting on her bottom lip, probably a nervous habit, but it’s making Lisa focus on her mouth and she can’t stop looking. “Any ideas?” Jisoo asks and Lisa forces her gaze upwards.

“Maybe you should give me a tour?” she suggests.

***

The tour starts in a grey room with grey furniture. “This is the design room where we…” Jisoo trails off uncertainly.

“Design new monsters that you hope will kill us?” Lisa supplies helpfully.

Jisoo laughs at her nonchalant tone. “Yes, I suppose so.”

It’s grey everywhere – Jisoo explains that it lacks a colour scheme to give her and Jennie the creative freedom to go with any colour scheme they want for each monster design. Otherwise they may be subconsciously affected by the colours in the room.

“Doesn’t it feel a bit sad though, being in a room full of grey and nothing else?” Lisa asks doubtfully.

Jisoo shakes her head. “It’s a room of possibility. That’s the best thing about it. Right, onto the control room.”

They walk out the room and further down the corridors, which are a bit brighter at least. The sleek black floors contrast with dark red wall paint. It feels a little like a performance hall, all marble and polished surfaces. Jisoo leads her into another room through a grey door.

“The control room is where we keep most of the monitors. We have eyes all over the city,” she says proudly.

Lisa stares at the sight in astonishment. The wall is full of computer screens, a few more monitors stacked to the side atop a grey desk. Each one shows a different view of the city. There’s the clearing where she got trapped, the street where they had the fight with Stormcloud, the school gates…

Hang on a second. What’s that there on the desk? It’s a watch, but it _isn’t,_ it looks more like –

Jisoo walks over to the monitors and blocks her view, pointing out a few screens on the far end of the wall. Stills of the park. “I was so glad you brought an umbrella, that day. In the rain. It meant that no one up here would see what I told you.”

Lisa’s heart swoops once more and for just a second, she feels guilty.

“You can really see everything from the spaceship?” she asks.

“As long as we’re looking,” Jisoo agrees. “We have satellites that take images every 5 minutes or so. There are a few others that take actual video, but they’re not kept in here. One of them looks over the park – and my cousin, despite his many flaws, is very good at lip-reading.”

Lisa frowns. “I thought satellites could only take images. And I didn’t realise you could do it so regularly. How does that work?”

“It’s really complex stuff, I’m told it was a nightmare to set up,” Jisoo discloses.

“But… how?”

Jisoo smiles sheepishly. “Jennie deals with that stuff.”

Lisa chuckles. “So you don’t know either?”

“Stop making me feel incompetent!” Jisoo hushes her.

Lisa grins. “Where are the other monitors kept, then? With the video?”

“By the teleportation pad,” Jisoo explains. “The locations we video record are the places where we’re able to teleport to. You just select the location on the monitor, pull the lever and voila.”

“Wow. That’s incredible science.”

“I know, my family are geniuses,” Jisoo says tiredly. But she’s smiling, like it’s just a joke.

“They certainly are,” Lisa agrees. Like it or not, Sungjin and Jennie sound extremely skilled, even more so the more Jisoo talks about them. She maybe doesn’t realise how crazy it is that she actually lives on a _spaceship,_ for crying out loud. Her family _must_ be geniuses to have made that work. (Or witches and warlocks, Lisa reminds herself. There’s that too.)

Jisoo smiles softly. “Come on, let’s move on.” She moves away from the desk towards the door. The watch is gone.

Lisa doesn’t say anything, tries not to react, but she knows that Jisoo has taken it. Taken Jungkook’s communicator.

They walk down the corridor again and Lisa looks around curiously, noting the doors they’re walking past without looking inside. She wonders what’s in there.

She wonders whether she’ll even be able to find Jungkook. Or if she’s just stuck on the spaceship too. But if she really _is_ stuck here, at least she has an ally, sort of. She doesn’t think Jisoo will turn her in.

They hear the sound of footsteps approaching and Lisa’s eyes widen. She supposes that theory about not being turned in may be tested much sooner than she expected.

Jisoo’s eyes dart around at record speed and then she grabs Lisa’s arm, dragging her to a nearby black door and pulling her inside. The door clicks closed just as the footsteps pass. There’s no sound of speech, just steps. At least 5 different pairs of feet.

“They must have been Blinks,” Jisoo says, letting out a relieved breath. Her cheeks are dusted pink. “But it’s better to be careful.”

Lisa smiles, smitten. Jisoo looks so pretty like this. Even in this eerie room where everything is bathed in a red light. Is it really warm in here, or is it just her? The room is tiny, probably some sort of cupboard come to think of it, and Jisoo is close enough that Lisa can feel her breath on her cheeks.

“What is this place?” she wonders aloud.

“The power core room,” Jisoo explains. She moves to gesture around and stumbles over her own feet, tripping forward. She stabilises, suddenly much closer to Lisa. “I didn’t plan on showing you round here because, to be honest, it’s really boring. We’ve just got our main power source, that big cylindrical thing behind you?”

Lisa turns around and gasps. What she assumed was a wall is actually the surface of a large canister. Perhaps it contains fuel, or perhaps that’s where the energy conversion processes take place. Maybe it’s all electricity or complicated wires and connections. (She doubts Jisoo would know if she asked her.) “Wow. Is that why it’s so warm in here?”

“Yeah,” Jisoo chuckles. She rests her left hand on Lisa’s shoulder, using the other to point upwards. “Energy creates heat. Or something? As I mentioned, Jennie works on the more scientific things up here. But it reaches all the way to the ceiling.” She steps a little closer, her clothes brushing against Lisa’s back, and Lisa’s breath hitches. “This a small space, too, what’s left of it after the power cylinder’s taken up all the room. It’s kind of hard to tour it.”

Lisa smiles, pleased and embarrassed by the proximity at the same time. “I can understand that.” Jisoo’s the closest she’s been all day. Closer than she has been since the day at the park. She can’t concentrate on anything else.

Jisoo moves her hand from Lisa’s shoulder, letting it drop to her side. “Should we go?”

Lisa turns around, fiercely sudden to make sure she doesn’t reply with something stupid, but that turns out to be a mistake on its own: Jisoo is still ridiculously close, looking at her with wide eyes. Their hands brush and Lisa’s heart catapults around her chest.

“Or we can stay here,” Lisa says quietly. Hopefully.

Jisoo hardly has to move another inch forwards before they’re kissing. It starts soft and sweet, almost nostalgic for that day in the park. They move closer, Jisoo’s hands on her back guiding her slightly backwards until she’s resting against the power cylinder.

Jisoo pulls back imperceptibly. “Is it hot?” she asks, a little concerned.

Lisa smiles. “Yes. Not in a bad way.”

Jisoo chuckles. They look into each other’s eyes and something passes between them. Then they’re kissing again, harder.

Lisa hums inadvertently and Jisoo smiles. Then Lisa finds herself smiling too, and they’re both just smiling at each other.

“Sorry,” Jisoo chuckles. “For breaking the moment. That felt nice.”

“Me too,” Lisa agrees, giddy. Smiling stupidly. “It’s been a while.”

Jisoo hums and kisses her again, a soft peck on the lips. Lisa pauses, a thought coming into her head.

“Hey, random question,” she starts impulsively, “but the monster magic. You know how it reverses when the monster’s destroyed? What happens if Venus goes back down while we’re in here kissing, and doesn’t make it out? Do I disappear mid-kiss?”

Jisoo laughs at the image. “I’m happy to say that’s not how it works. The magic reverses as long as there’s no interference: everyone still in the cells would go back as normal, but because I removed the magical barriers keeping you locked in, it wouldn’t work that way for you.”

Lisa frowns. She doesn’t want to give her ideas, but – “So why not reverse the magic for all the civilians there, too?”

“What, and keep feeding them in those cells for eternity? Worse, let them out of the cells to roam freely around the spaceship? Humans need a lot of care, you know. Even killing them is more effort than it’s worth. Capturing them was more a display of power than an actual kidnap attempt,” she explains.

“Huh,” Lisa says.

Jungkook was captured, but Lisa didn’t see him in the cells. The ‘actual kidnap attempt’ must refer to him, right?

“So I’m stuck here?” Lisa confirms.

“Stuck with me for as long as I want you here,” Jisoo grins. She falters slightly, cringing at herself. “That wasn’t meant to sound so creepy.”

Lisa laughs. “I know what you meant. Anyway, I don’t mind being stuck here with you a little longer.”

Jisoo smiles, more reserved this time. “It’s kind of cool we can discuss this casually,” she contemplates. “It reminds me how we’re on different sides, but we’re not really that different.”

Lisa nods – but her mind is elsewhere. Jisoo may have been lying about Jungkook not being on the spaceship, but she wasn’t lying about him not being in the cells. She’s been telling half-truths just like Lisa: Jungkook is somewhere else on the ship.

If the magic wearing off doesn’t affect people removed from the monster cells, that means defeating Venus won’t bring Jungkook back, either. So that means the rescue mission was necessary. Now she just needs to get Jungkook out of here before she ends up trapped as well.

***

As they walk further along the corridor, Lisa tries to keep track of the doors she’s seen, the rooms she’s been in already. The monster cells were a long way away from everything else, it seems, and probably the biggest room on this spaceship. But she’s certain there’s another large room that Jisoo is deliberately omitting from the tour. Wherever Jungkook is being kept.

Watching out for different doors seems more useless the further they walk, though: there are at least 5 doors they haven’t been through and Lisa won’t be able to bluff her way into checking them all. It’ll be obvious she’s snooping.

They’re rounding a corner when Lisa spies a black door slightly ajar. Then she hears footsteps and holds her breath, speeding past the corner – just in case. She shares a look with Jisoo: that was a close call. The footsteps grow faint again and a door clicks closed. But she never heard it open.

Bingo.

They enter Jisoo’s room and suddenly Jisoo is kissing her again. But she isn’t complaining.

Lisa moves a hand to Jisoo’s neck, plays with her hair. Her other hand moves to Jisoo’s back, holding her closer. She’s wearing a loose top with skinny jeans, a good look on her. Definitely not a look she expected from a witch while she was working aboard a spaceship, but that’s another issue. Funnily enough, Jisoo looks more down to Earth today that she ever did when Lisa actually met her on Earth.

She lowers her hands to Jisoo’s hips, careful, hesitant. She doesn’t want to push any boundaries. But then she feels something bulky in her pocket.

The communicator. It has to be.

Now just to keep Jisoo distracted enough to take it from her pocket…

But skinny jeans aren’t exactly easy to pickpocket. This is going to be tough.

Lisa hooks her fingers round Jisoo’s belt loops, pulling her closer, and Jisoo smiles, still preoccupied with the kiss. Maybe she’s forgotten where she put the communicator. But that isn’t Lisa’s concern. Lisa reaches for the pocket –

A knock at the door shocks them out of the moment. Lisa quickly makes a grab for the communicator before stepping back. “Sorry,” she whispers. “That scared me.”

Jisoo isn’t listening. “Quick – in the wardrobe.” She opens a door and ushers Lisa inside, before smoothing down her clothes and reaching for the door handle. Lisa pulls the door shut just as the bedroom door opens.

She uncurls her fist triumphantly. _Got it._ And unless Jisoo is a better actor than Lisa is aware, she didn’t notice a thing.

Right. Now to find a pocket she can put the communicator in. It’s so dark in here that she might struggle, but she hopes that her eyes will adjust to the light soon enough. She’s also wary that she can’t make too much noise or move around – even if she isn’t clumsy enough to fall out, the wardrobe seems really packed, stuff everywhere. Clothes are either side of her face, pressed against her hair, and shoes, boxes and papers seem to be all over the floor of the wardrobe.

So, Jisoo is messy.

She decides to mimic Jisoo’s decision and put the communicator in her trouser pocket. Her top is long enough that it should cover it up… After they get out of here, she only needs to make it to the room with the door that was ajar, find Jungkook and escape. Easy.

Lisa holds the communicator tightly in her hand and reaches for her pocket, slowly but surely. It’s a simple task, but she has to be careful with it. She can faintly hear Sungjin’s voice through the wardrobe doors and she is _not_ about to get herself (and Jisoo) in trouble. Her hand brushes against something on the way to her pocket: on second thoughts it’s probably a leather jacket, but her first instinct is that there’s some sort of reptile in the wardrobe and she flinches in panic.

Lisa gasps stupidly loudly as the communicator falls to the floor, then she hears Jisoo’s voice raise. Covering for her.

The fall is cushioned by some clothes at the bottom. Lisa feels for the communicator; her eyes have started to adjust and she’s seeing things clearer now. It’s landed on a t-shirt. She picks up the communicator, the t-shirt shifting as she does so, and Lisa frowns as she notices a piece of paper underneath. It looks like a drawing.

She puts the communicator in her pocket. Then moves the shirt to the side and sees a whole pile of drawings. She peers closer, leaning down as far as she dares, then feels her heart beating out of her chest.

 _Weaknesses to focus on,_ the paper on top reads. Each trait has an arrow, pointing to a different part of the monster’s body.

They’re building a monster to target Jungkook.

She hears the bedroom door close and quickly moves the t-shirt back over the paper. Part of her wants to take it with her, inspect it more closely, but then they’ll notice something is missing and probably change the plan. This way, the Rangers have a slight advantage: they know what to expect.

Jisoo opens the wardrobe door and sighs. “Sorry about that. Sungjin wanted me to check on some things. Did you hear our conversation?”

Lisa shakes her head. “Everything sounded kind of muffled in here.”

Jisoo holds out a hand for her to take, helping Lisa out of the wardrobe. “We should just be glad it wasn’t Jennie. She wouldn’t have knocked.”

Lisa’s eyes widen. “You’re that close?”

Jisoo chuckles. “We share a room.” She gestures to the left and Lisa looks, noting the two single beds in surprise. Though she probably shouldn’t be so shocked that she didn’t notice anything in the room while she and Jisoo were kissing.

“You’re right,” Lisa nods. “We should get moving.”

Time to find Jungkook.

They exit the bedroom and Lisa feels nerves swimming around her stomach at what she’s about to attempt. “It was this way, right?” Lisa asks, feigning ignorance as she rounds the corner and opens the black door.

“No, wait, it’s round here –”

The room is big, with black floors and red walls and open space. At one end, there are some monitors next to a teleportation pad. But Lisa isn’t looking there, hasn’t seen it yet. Her eyes are focused on the other side of the room, where Jungkook is strapped to a wall with Blinks surrounding him, who seem to be fiddling with something by his hands and feet.

_Jackpot._

She runs towards them and the Blinks look up. They stand up, ready to fight, but Lisa is quicker and motivated and _angry._ She knocks one Blink down and, for lack of any other ideas, tears a metal plate off its torso to throw at Jisoo, who’s rapidly approaching her. It hits her in the head and Lisa winces. That wasn’t her intention. Jisoo falls to the floor, out cold.

Lisa knocks down two more Blinks, then bumps the other two together so they both stumble backwards. While they’re all distracted standing back up and recalibrating, she turns to Jungkook. “How do I get you out of this?”

“They were just loosening the metal. So… spin it the other way?” He’s speaking slowly and Lisa looks at him in concern, as if seeing him for the first time. All the colour has drained from his face and his eyes are lifeless. He’s naked besides a small pair of shorts. She can tell from his physique that he’s worn down and hasn’t eaten enough. “Why are you staring at my underwear?” Jungkook says, and Lisa looks up at him, startled.

“I – didn’t realise,” she stumbles. She hits away another Blink that approaches before moving to inspect the metal cuff on his right arm. “Quick, help me with this. I don’t know which way they were spinning in the first place.” She tries to twist it, but it’s too stiff. “We don’t have _time_ –”

“Be stronger,” Jungkook tells her. He’s speaking at a more normal speed and sounding more present, so Lisa tries to ignore how unhelpful his advice is and focus on the positives. “The Blinks could do it.”

That’s it – the Blinks. She turns to her metal enemies. If she can ally with Jisoo, why not the Blinks, too? If coerced alliance is a thing, that is.

She fights off two Blinks who’ve recovered, then targets a third by kicking at its knees and torso. Then she gets behind it, forcing it forwards. She moves its hand to the metal cuff and the Blink gets the idea, turning it. But it’s getting tighter. “Wrong way,” she growls, trying to sound menacing. The Blink takes note and changes direction.

Thank God for obedient minions.

Jisoo is starting to come to when Lisa manages to get Jungkook out of his fastenings. Somehow nobody has heard the commotion yet, probably because the ship is so big and Jisoo hasn’t called for backup. She pulls him away from where he’s been trapped, but his body is weak and he stumbles. “You can’t walk,” Lisa says in realisation.

“Sure I can,” Jungkook says, ever the fighter, as he tries again and starts to cross the room. “Just out of practice.”

“How do we get out of here?” Lisa asks desperately. The door is still wide open – anyone could walk past. She wishes she’d had more of a plan.

“Teleport,” Jungkook responds, his voice scratchy and worn. “This room.” He gestures to the other side of the room and Lisa turns, noticing the monitors.

Jungkook heads to a circular platform and Lisa follows his lead, stepping on it before turning to the monitors. Why are there only three? She thought there’d be more options for places to go… She hardly recognises these locations, plus there are so many people on the screens and Jungkook is in his _underwear_ –

“Here,” Jungkook says, tapping at some buttons on a control panel nearby. “I think we can choose it like this…”

The locations on the screens change and Lisa taps on one at random. “Lever…” she mutters to herself, searching. Where would it be?

There’s movement on the other side of the room. Lisa turns her head briefly to see Jisoo standing up, clutching her head.

 _Quick, quick, quick._ She scans the area in front of her again. Aha – _got it._

Jisoo stares at them, mouth dropped open in shock. Lisa hops onto the platform and reaches for the lever.

“You – you used me,” Jisoo splutters.

“That’s right,” Lisa says calmly. She offers a small smile – something like a peace offering. “Now we’re even.” And she pulls the lever to send them back to Earth.

***

Jungkook coughs and splutters when they land, and Lisa looks at him worriedly but grabs his arm and starts running all the same. Venus could be sent down straight away to capture them again and bring them back.

“There’s no time to get back to the base,” she tells Jungkook hurriedly as they run. “I’m sending a signal to the others so they can track where we are. By the time they reach us, Venus will probably be down here too. You good to fight?”

Jungkook winces, his feet dragging behind him even as he forces himself to keep moving. “I won’t lie, I’ve been better. But I’ve also never been so motivated to destroy one of these things.”

Lisa can’t stop herself from grinning. “That’s the spirit.”

Soon enough they’re in the clearing, the same one where Lisa got herself captured, and she sees Hoseok running towards him, already morphed. Rosé and Yoongi aren’t far behind. She nods to Jungkook, passing him his communicator which he quickly slips over his wrist. “Ready?”

“Always,” Jungkook replies.

“Power of the Sunflower!”

“Power of the Rose!”

“Flowers… bloom and conquer!” they yell in tandem as they morph.

Venus arrives seconds later. Their fighting tactic is clearer this time: stay behind Venus, and don’t let it out of your sight. Jungkook throws his Thorn Daggers and watches proudly as they get lodged in Venus’s back. While he retrieves them for another attempt at its legs, Rosé keeps Venus distracted, hitting her Spider Whip against the ground so that dirt sprays in Venus’s face. It’s a move Jungkook doesn’t recognise; she must have learnt it over the last couple of days while he’s been gone. The thought fuels his anger.

It’s a sentiment not exclusive to Jungkook. They all have more anger towards this monster than any of the others they’ve fought happened – more determination to destroy it. A while later, Hoseok’s Blue Iris Throwing Stars deliver the final blow and in the next moment, Venus is exploding in a mirage of sparks and smoke.

Naturally, the Rangers don’t have long to celebrate before the monster is growing at an alarming speed. Their Zords arrive, the Rangers jumping inside their fighting flower machines.

“Isn’t it easiest when we combine?” Rosé shouts over the din of scraping metal. Her Spider Flower Zord prods Venus from behind and she hops away before Venus can respond to the attack, laughing gleefully. There’s something quite amusing about these fights – you know, once you get past the whole ‘life or death’ aspect.

“Usually,” Yoongi shouts back. He quickly lurches forward in his Azalea Zord to jab Venus from behind, before Venus can charge towards the Spider Flower Zord. “But I think right now our advantage is being in many places at once.”

“That may be true,” Lisa starts, “but we also have more limited strength when fighting individually.” Yoongi looks over and sees her Zord on the floor, struggling to get up. Venus notices her at the same time and delivers a kick right to the sunflower head that sits in the heart of the Zord.

“Time to combine?” Jungkook asks breathily. He has to agree with Lisa: he’s worn out and having to fight individually definitely isn’t helping.

“Let’s do it,” Hoseok agrees. They all reach for their control panels at the same time, seeking out the button with a colour wheel of all five Power Ranger colours. “On 3?”

“No time,” Jungkook yelps as he sees Venus angling towards him. “Press it now!” (He’s maybe a little panicked, maybe a little uptight, but after the week he’s had, who could really blame him.)

Their Zords combine to make one big Megazord: Jungkook is in the middle once more, between Hoseok and Lisa. Rosé is on the far right and Yoongi is on the far left, he and Lisa both clicking at the same time to punch out the Zord’s left arm and kick out the Zord’s left leg at the same time. “Good teamwork, guys!” Hoseok says approvingly as Venus stumbles backwards.

“Was it?” Yoongi responds doubtfully. “That wasn’t planned. Surely the Zord should have unbalanced.”

Jungkook snorts. He feels much better with his teammates right beside him.

They fight a little longer, making use of the super-sized weapon feature to use Hoseok’s Blue Iris Throwing Stars. They’re hoping the weapon might have as much success as last time.

Clearly Venus is wary of the same possibility, because the next thing they know, Venus is changing its tack.

“Duck!” Rosé yells urgently. Jungkook finds the button just in time, as a laser beam flies over their Zord’s head.

“No way,” Lisa says, in denial. “Super sized laser beams?”

Jungkook grimaces. “Please, no. That shit was painful regular-sized.”

“Are you telling me that our Zord could get struck and we’d all end up on the spaceship?” Rosé says in panic.

“Oh fuck,” Hoseok mutters. “I think it’s got to be fireball time.”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Jungkook agrees, teeth clenched together. This isn’t going to be pretty.

“Prepare yourself, guys,” Lisa says. She kicks the Zord’s left foot out and watches as Venus stumbles. Then – “Jungkook, _now_.”

Jungkook selects the Energy Sphere on the control panel and winces in anticipation. In a split second, there’s a piercing sensation in his skull, like his brain is being ripped apart, and the only thing he can hear is the sound of all their screaming. His hands fly up automatically to cover his ears.

“The vent!” Hoseok shouts. “Jungkook, you have to _open the vent_!”

Jungkook tears his right hand away from his ear and hits the button to let out the Energy Sphere. He doesn’t even have the strength to watch as it flies out of the Zord and directly into Venus.

A massive explosion alerts the Rangers to their success and they all cheer. “Thank fuck for that,” Yoongi says.

“That was so painful,” Rosé says in astonishment. “I understand now why you were so reluctant to use it.”

“Jungkook, you okay?” Hoseok asks, reaching a hand out to him.

Jungkook groans. He takes Hoseok’s hand, who helps him up, and only at that point does he realise he must have fallen to the floor. “I’m exhausted,” he admits.

“What happened on the spaceship?” he hears Yoongi ask quietly.

“Torture, I think,” Lisa responds, her voice even quieter. Jungkook doesn’t bother trying to hear her over the clanking of the Zord’s metal and the fire that’s still fizzling where Venus once stood. “He was hooked up to loads of machines. I doubt he’s eaten or even slept in the last few days.”

“Come on,” Hoseok says in Jungkook’s ear, voice encouraging. “Let’s get you back to the base.”

***

While the other Rangers debrief Jaehyung on how the fight went and receive tips from him about which Zord functions to use next time, Namjoon sits Jungkook in his desk chair and makes him drink about 2 litres of water. “Give me a second and I’ll get you a snack too,” he tells Jungkook comfortingly. “I have an emergency toaster in the back.”

Jungkook would snort at the comment if he had the mental strength. What the hell is an emergency toaster?

“Jaehyung laughed at me too when I bought it,” Namjoon says when he returns, clearly noticing the look on Jungkook’s face, “but it really has come in useful.” He holds out two slices of buttered toast for Jungkook to eat.

“Thanks,” Jungkook replies, voice scratchy.

“No problem,” Namjoon responds. “If you need anything over the next few days, anything at all, just let us know, okay?”

Jungkook smiles as best he can.

***

Taehyung can’t lie. He gets nervous butterflies every time the doorbell rings. Each time it’s been post, late birthday presents, friends round for New Year, even a food shopping delivery. Never Jungkook.

Taehyung’s not a big worrier. If it were just one day? Jungkook’s probably just busy. Two days – maybe Jungkook’s mad at him. Three days, okay, maybe he’s sick. Four days? That’s never happened before.

Four days over his birthday and New Year? Now that would definitely _never_ happen.

Something’s wrong.

The doorbell goes and Taehyung jumps up from where he’s sat at the kitchen table, mindlessly staring at the wall. (Screen time still hasn’t been sitting well with him lately. God, he really needs some new hobbies.)

He tries not to get his hopes up. It could be anything.

He opens the door –

“Jungkook,” Taehyung says, undeniably relieved. He’s stood there in a baggy jumper, bags under his eyes but a small smile on his face. “Where the hell have you been? And – shit, why do you look like you’re about to die? Your skin is so pale, have you even eaten?”

Jungkook smiles faintly. “I knew I picked well when I appointed you as my best friend.”

Taehyung groans and lets Jungkook inside. “Help yourself to some chocolate, you look like you need it. And then you’re going to tell me what’s going on.”

Once they’re sat on the sofa, Jungkook tells him, around a mouthful of chocolate, “I’ve been ill.”

“You’ve been ill?” Taehyung repeats sceptically.

“Uh huh,” Jungkook continues nonchalantly, shoving the rest of the chocolate bar into his mouth as he chews on it noisily.

“And you didn’t check your phone for a whole week?” Taehyung scoffs.

“Phone screen was too bright,” Jungkook shrugs. “Hey, do you have any Tangfastics? I kind of want something fizzy.”

Taehyung frowns at him, looking oddly serious, and Jungkook freezes.

“I know you weren’t at home,” Taehyung says slowly. “Yeeun came by looking for you after a few days. And, because I’m a great friend who has some level of faith in you, I told her you were staying with me over New Year. Look, I don’t know where you _were_ , but I know you weren’t at home.”

Jungkook sighs, deflating. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“The truth?” Taehyung says pointedly.

“I can’t,” he says quickly. “Sorry. Maybe someday.”

“Fine, whatever,” Taehyung replies, defeated.

“You want to come over and play video games?” Jungkook asks hopefully. “We haven’t celebrated the New Year together yet, and you still owe me a rematch on that Mario Kart game.”

Taehyung smiles despite himself. “Yeah, sure.” He doesn’t want to forgive Jungkook so easily, but it’s hard to stay mad at him. Especially when he’s pouting like that and looking all small in an oversized jumper.

Wait. What?

“I’m going to smash it out of the park,” Jungkook warns him. “Be careful.”

Taehyung scoffs. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t scare me one bit. You’ve always been overconfident.”

Jungkook snorts. “That’s _your_ thing.”

“So we have lots in common!” Taehyung says brightly. He claps Jungkook on the shoulder and he winces – more than usual, Taehyung notices, but he tries not to read into it. “Let me go get my jumper, then we can head.”

Jungkook smiles, his eyes lighting up. “You’ve been wearing it?”

“Of course. Which you’d have _known_ if you’d been living as normal and gone to the library,” he adds pointedly, before realising what a strange thing it is to point out.

Jungkook frowns, and for a second he looks strangely worried. “What’s the library got to do with this?”

Taehyung shakes his head, laughing awkwardly at himself. “No, nothing. Forget it. Get ready for Mario Kart, my friend. I’ve been practising.”

***

Jungkook’s mother looks at them in alarm when they enter the house. “You look exhausted.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook smiles sheepishly. “We stayed up all night playing video games.”

She gives him a stern look but doesn’t say any more.

“You’re a good liar,” Taehyung comments casually when they’re in his room.

Jungkook closes the door behind him with a small laugh. “Thanks, I try.”

Taehyung shakes his head in wonder. “You’re really not going to tell me where you were?”

Jungkook shrugs. “I told you I can’t.” He sets up his game console, putting Mario Kart in the disc drive. “You ready for the rematch of your life?”

“Kook, seriously, your mother had a point,” Taehyung frowns. “You look like you need some sleep. And probably some proper food.”

“Wow, you sound just like her,” Jungkook says flatly.

Taehyung laughs softly. “You sure you don’t want a rain check?”

“Never,” Jungkook grins. “Bring it on.”

As it happens, he falls asleep a few minutes after their championship ends. High on his victory. He simply falls backwards on the bed, expecting to lounge there for a bit and chat, but his eyes fall closed and he’s snoring within minutes.

Taehyung grins at the sight, laying a blanket over him before he leaves.

***

It gets to 5:30pm and there’s still no sign of Jungkook. “Should one of us contact him?” Hoseok asks, a little concerned. It isn’t like him to miss training. But Hoseok supposes these are extraordinary circumstances.

Jaehyung shakes his head. “He deserves the rest. From what Lisa’s told us, he probably hasn’t slept at all this year.” A wry smile appears on his face and Yoongi looks at him in shock.

“Did you just make a New Year joke?”

“Yes,” Jaehyung responds dignifiedly. “Yes, I did.”

“Let’s get on with some strength training,” Namjoon suggests.

Jaehyung nods in agreement. “If we’re right about those machines Jungkook was hooked up to, the next fight is going to be even tougher than this one was. Our enemies now have insider information on the Red Ranger’s abilities.”

“Do we need to be worried?” Rosé asks anxiously.

“No more than usual!” Namjoon says brightly.

Jaehyung chuckles. “Okay, Joon, we get it. We should all lighten up. The main thing is that we’ve found Jungkook and he’s safe, resting up at home. Plus all the other victims from Venus’s attacks seem to have returned home.”

Lisa thinks of Wonpil and smiles. Hopefully he has a little more faith in his future now.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Rosé agrees enthusiastically. “I saw some of the rescued victims on the news talking about their experiences. It seemed really gruesome.”

Lisa winces. “Yeah. Even 15 minutes in there was 15 minutes too long.”

“You’ve done a good job,” Jaehyung says. “Congratulations. Let’s get started, shall we?”

***

Jungkook walks downstairs, yawning to himself. His communicator says it’s 11pm, which is odd because he swears he and Taehyung were playing till around 9pm. But it feels like he’s been asleep for much longer than 2 hours.

He hears the TV before he gets to the living room. Yeeun is sat there, half-watching and half on her phone.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Jungkook asks.

She looks up. “Shouldn’t you?”

“I just woke up,” Jungkook replies.

Yeeun looks at him in horror. “Have you actually been asleep for the last 24 hours?”

Ah, that makes more sense. Jungkook yawns again. “Must have been.” He pads over the sofa and flops down beside her. “I guess it’s time for a break and a snack. Then maybe a nap.”

Yeeun gives him a scathing look before turning back to the TV.

***

The next day, training goes ahead as usual – ‘as usual’ meaning that Jungkook is finally back training with them.

“It’s good to see you,” Hoseok says with a smile when Jungkook walks into the base.

“You too,” Jungkook smiles. “Sorry I missed yesterday.”

“You needed the rest,” Jaehyung pipes up. “I’m glad you’re back, Jungkook.”

Jungkook smiles, pleased with the comment. Jaehyung is an easy person to admire and Jungkook appreciates the praise.

Jungkook is a little weak during strength training, a little slow during cardio training and a little inaccurate during weapon training. But the others cut him some slack and promise that if another monster happens to arrive tomorrow, they’ll protect him.

He’s a little scared, a little traumatised if he’s honest, but his friends are here and they won’t let something like this happen again. Hell, Lisa even got herself trapped on a spaceship just to come and save him. At this point, he thinks it’s safe to say he can trust his teammates with his life.

His trust in their friendship is reaffirmed when Lisa holds back at the end of training, hesitating as the others head out the library doors. “Hey – Jungkook?”

Jungkook turns around. “Hey – Lisa?” he echoes, a goofy smile on his face. Trying to lighten the tension he’s felt for the last few days.

Lisa doesn’t smile back. There’s a very serious expression on her face. “No one else saw what I did,” she says, her voice quiet. “Nobody else saw you like that. It’s really brutal, what they did. I just wanted to check you’re okay.”

Jungkook sighs, and some of the tension leaves his shoulders. It’s not enough to fully let go, but it’s enough to know he has someone to turn to if he needs it. “Yeah, I’ll be alright. Thanks.”

“Jungkook,” she says, her voice a little stronger now.

Jungkook blinks. “What?”

“Your eyes are glazed over again, like you’re spacing out.”

Jungkook laughs ever so slightly. “Spacing out. Funny.”

Lisa chuckles awkwardly. “That wasn’t deliberate.”

“Sure.”

Lisa sighs. “I’ll see you at training tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Jungkook says. “And – hey.” Lisa hesitates in the doorway. “Thanks for checking up on me.”

“Of course,” Lisa echoes. “It wouldn’t be us without a heart to heart, now would it?” she grins.

***

They’re halfway through training the next day enjoying a well-deserved break, when Namjoon gasps, attracting everyone’s attention.

“What is it?” Jungkook frowns.

Namjoon grins at them as he turns around the computer screen so they can all see it. The Green Ranger and Orange Ranger symbols have lit up on screen and the Rangers all look round at each other, wondering if it means what they think it does.

“The Green and Orange Ranger positions are now activated!” Namjoon squeaks.

“So that means…?” Rosé asks.

“It means that the two people who are going to become a part of the team are now eligible to join,” Hoseok beams.

“I’ll need to configure a few more details before I can see who the new Rangers will be, but it shouldn’t be too long before I can gather some data on location – and then we’ll have a couple of additions to the team!” Namjoon says excitedly.

“Wow,” Hoseok exclaims.

“It’s going to be weird, trying to let more people into the group,” Yoongi mumbles, voicing what they’re all thinking. They’ve got used to how they work as a team, just the five of them. It’s always hard trying to incorporate new people into such a tight-knit group.

Hoseok raises his eyebrows at Yoongi. “Don’t tell me you’ve got attached to us.”

“We’re the only people he talks to,” Rosé pipes up. “How _wouldn’t_ he get attached to us? As his only form of human contact?” Yoongi gives her the side-eye and she grins cheekily in response.

“I’ve also got attached,” Lisa admits. “I’m with Yoongi here. I think it’ll be hard to get used to a bigger group.”

“Well that’s also predictable,” Hoseok grins. “You’re a sunflower, remember? If I recall correctly, you’re invasive and spread rapidly. Your clinginess towards us was inevitable.”

Lisa laughs. “I can’t believe I’m slowly proving your theory right.”

“We’ll have to accept them, whoever they are,” Jungkook says. “We’re all part of a team and we’ve discovered over and over that things are one thousand times harder if we don’t all work together.” He looks at Jaehyung apprehensively. “Besides, if the monsters are about to get a whole lot more powerful, it seems like we’ll need the help.”

Jaehyung nods, confirming his fears, but the others aren’t listening.

“Don’t be such a downer,” Hoseok says good-naturedly.

“Yeah,” Rosé chuckles. “You get kidnapped and suddenly the world is a terrifying place.”

“The world has always been a terrifying place,” Yoongi responds nonchalantly.

“And it’s a lot more terrifying with evil rampaging about,” Lisa acknowledges. “Especially when it messes with our emotions.”

“Which is why we stick together,” Hoseok reasons. “Lisa, you managed to _break into a spaceship_ and rescue Jungkook. I’m pretty convinced by this point that we can do anything.”

“Great,” Rosé snorts, derisive. “The team is full of pessimistic souls and inflated egos. I can’t see how this could possibly go wrong.”

Jungkook grins. “Thank goodness we’ve got some time to sort out our emotional responses before two more people join us for the ride.”

The others hum in agreement. They may be a little apprehensive, but none of them can deny that they’re curious about who will be added to the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so… who do you think it’ll be?
> 
> p.s. if you’re still feeling festive, please check out my yoonmin coffee shop/university au [winter hugs and chocolate cups](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28482744) :))


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